The port of Trois-Rivières was the scene of an extraordinary intervention, on the night of Thursday to Friday, when most of the crew of a Thai ship had to be transported to hospital.
Shortly before midnight, emergency services were called in, when six Thai sailors were declared seriously ill on board a ship awaiting unloading.
Rather, when they arrived, the paramedics realized that 17 of the 24 sailors who were on board were showing symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. The liner is from Brazil.
While a Brazilian variant has been sowing concern since the appearance of a first case in Toronto a dozen days ago, the CIUSSS explained in an interview with TVA Nouvelles that the usual COVID protocol was applied to admission sailors in the emergency room. It is also a serious food poisoning which would have caused the sudden illness.
The situation, never seen in living memory, underlined Sara Dubé, spokesperson for the Port of Trois-Rivières, will therefore result in a rare incursion of foreign sailors outside the port perimeter.
The authorities argue that strict rules have been in place since the start of the pandemic and that sailors remain confined in ships at all times.
The TVA Nouvelles team ran into some of the sailors on their return from the hospital in the middle of the afternoon and they seemed to have improved. Most of them had to obtain their leave before the end of the day, argued the CIUSSS.
When the entire crew has returned to the ship, unloading operations can be completed and the liner can continue on its way.
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