Some of the 200 crew ship workers who disembarked the Adventure of the Seas cruise ship at the Falmouth Pier in Trelawny could reunite with their families as early as Sunday.
After watching the first group of 40 ship workers completing their immigration proceedings and having samples taken to determine their COVID-19 status, State Minister Matthew Samuda told The Gleaner that things were progressing smoother than anticipated.
In explaining the disembarkation of ship workers, which started at 8 a.m., Samuda said that they were taken off in small groups in compliance with best-practice protocols.
“We are trying to take the workers off the ship in tranches of 40, with subgroups of 20, so that we will be able to group people in case of infections,” said Samuda, noting that the exercise might be completed within five days.
Ship workers who test negative for COVID-19 and are released will still not be free to reintegrate into the local population as they will be required to undergo a period of home quarantine.
