How the Panama Canal is handling COVID-19

Despite the measures that the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) adopted to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in the Central American country, ACP allowed a cruise ship with almost 200 potential cases to transit through the waterway on Sunday. 

ACP has repeatedly announced measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which have delayed vessel transit and are impacting exports to markets like China and the United States.

However, the authority made an exception on Sunday when it allowed the troubled Holland America Line Zandaam cruise ship to pass through the canal to reach the US. 

INFECTED CRUISE

The vessel has confirmed four deaths – at least two related to COVID-19 symptoms – and some 73 passengers and 113 crew members with flu-like symptoms. 

The ship left Argentina on March 7 and was supposed to reach Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 7. It was first denied entry to the Canal upon  reaching Panamanian waters on March 27. 

The cruise ship and its sister vessel, Rotterdam, were finally allowed to cross the waterway under extraordinary circumstances for humanitarian reasons, ACP said in a statement on Monday. 

“The Panama Canal has taken extreme sanitary measures to transit both ships, including the use of the Neopanamax locks, which means minimizing the number of collaborators involved in transit,” the authority said in a statement. 

MEASURES

ACP’s measures were originally announced on January 29.

They include onboard sanitary checks and holding vessels in quarantine, among other steps that require constant communication between crew members and personnel working at the canal. 

According to a report from IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis, Panama has higher exposure to infectious diseases than many of its neighbors, with 6% of global trade passing through the canal.

Panama is also the country with the most coronavirus cases in Central America.

These are the measures that ACP posted on March 25:

• The creation of teams with the necessary staffing levels in order to maintain the safe operation of the waterway and provide continuous service to international trade.
• These teams will be transferred to and from their work areas in special transport and in small groups, with the aim of reducing the risk of infection.
• Operational shifts will be established to ensure that all workers are adequately rested.