Crew members on board the MV Ocean Discovery, which arrived in Chaguaramas on Thursday from Ebola-raved west Africa, have been cleared to come ashore by doctors attached to the Health Ministry. This was the word from Health Minister Fuad Khan last night as he tried to allay fears by fishermen in the region and members of the public that there are no vessels in T&T territorial waters carrying Ebola-infected crew members.
“The doctors have decided that they are eligible to enter the country because they have already spent more than 21 days since they left Africa,” Khan said. Chaguaramas fishermen were yesterday suspicious of the crew members aboard the ship, which arrived here after two stops at ports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Ghana. “We not going near there. Them people have Ebola, we don’t want to die,” one fisherman at a depot near the Crews Inn marina said.
When a news team from the T&T Guardian visited the area seeking to charter a fishing boat to have a closer look at the ship, only one of the dozen fishermen present was willing to take the job offer. Even then, as soon as the vessel came into sight on the boat trip, he quickly expressed strong reservations about going further. “Allyuh really want to go so near to it? I ent feel that make sense,” he said.
He reluctantly agreed after reporters explained that the virus could only be transmitted through bodily fluids. When the boat approached closer, seven crew members were seen walking around the ship’s upper deck. Although it was difficult to communicate because of the distance and size difference between the ship and the fisherman’s pirogue, the crew members, who said they were from Scotland, said they had recently visited Africa.
With a broad smile, a bareback crew member flexed his biceps and shouted across the water that he was not infected with Ebola. Before reporters could ask the purpose of their visit and if the crew was planning to come ashore, Port Authority personnel patrolling in the area intervened to say the mission should be immediately abandoned.