CHANNEL-PORT AUX BASQUES, N.L. — The MV Blue Puttees is headed back across the gulf this morning after a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a crew member took the vessel out of action last week.
Marine Atlantic says all employees working on the ship have tested negative, confirmed through two separate tests as per public health recommendations.
The company was notified of an infection by Nova Scotia public health officials on Jan. 19, at which time the vessel was taken out of service and set to receive an enhanced cleaning while all crew underwent testing. A second crew member, a man in his 60s from Central Newfoundland, was confirmed positive for the coronavirus strain on Jan. 21.
Both employees worked the same 15-day shift.
While the risk to passengers was deemed low, public health officials in both provinces advised, out of an abundance of caution, that passengers who travelled on the Blue Puttees to or from North Sydney to Port Aux Basques between Tuesday, Dec. 29 and Saturday, Jan. 16 — estimated by Marine Atlantic to be in the hundreds — were asked to arrange COVID-19 testing.
Marine Atlantic says public health agencies in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador continue to take the lead on contact tracing and the public health investigation, with Marine Atlantic providing support and assistance wherever possible.
The vessel will return to Marine Atlantic’s daily schedule departing North Sydney 11:45 a.m. The MV Atlantic Vision will return to standby mode.
