The National Operations Centre (NOC) has dismissed rumours two vessels originating from Africa with an Ebola-infected crew members were anchored in T&T territorial waters yesterday. In a press release issued late yesterday evening NOC executive director Garvin Heerah described the rumours, which had been circulating for most of yesterday, as “entirely false.” “The NOC would like to ask the public to desist from sensationalising false information over this highly charged issue and to rely on the authorities for information on any related matters,” Heerah said.
He also sought to assure the public that the Ministry of Heath had already instituted strict protocols and procedures to protect members of the public from exposure to the virus. Immigration and Customs sources alerted this newspaper to a vessel originating from Ebola-ravaged West Africa, which was anchored near to the Anchorage Beach Club yesterday afternoon. A second vessel originating from South Africa, which was anchored near the Scarborough Port also caused a scare in Tobago before the officials cleared it.
Sources said staff of both agencies stationed at sub-offices at the Crews Inn marina expressed fear over possible exposure which may be carried by crew members. One of the crew members was expected to meet with the vessel’s local representative at the offices yesterday afternoon to seek approval from both agencies to allow the crew to disembark.
However, the meeting did not take place up to late yesterday. The T&T Guardian was informed that the vessel’s manifest indicated that the research vessel had visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on September 13 and Ghana on September 25 before making the trans-Atlantic journey to the Caribbean. While the DRC is not listed in the five West African countries that has been hit with this year’s Ebola outbreak, that country has still recorded over 68 cases which have led to 49 deaths.