COVID-19 Maritime Industry Update 52 - 23 October 2020 - Maritime NZ
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COVID-19 Maritime Industry Update 52 23 October 2020 This guideline is for the maritime industry and port supply chain COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 1 of 11
COVID-19 Maritime Industry Update 52 Last updated: 23 October 2020 This document is uncontrolled if printed. Please refer to the Maritime New Zealand website for the latest version. In this guide 1. Maritime crew air transfers update 3 2. Ongoing sector engagement 4 3. Guidance for NZ workers aboard international ships 5 4. Answering your questions 6 5. Key sources of information 11 COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 2 of 11
1. Maritime air crew transfers
For crew from any vessel to fly from New Zealand to Australia, they must meet the
Australian Border Force’s requirements for entry into New South Wales (NSW). Qantas
and JetStar flights will only carry passengers who have lawfully been in New Zealand for
14 days and fulfilled health and immigration requirements. These flights are referred to
as ‘quarantine-free’ flights.
If someone has been in a declared ‘hot spot’ in the preceding 14 days, they cannot travel to Australia
on a quarantine-free flight. A hotspot is defined by the Australian Government as an area that exhibits
a three-day rolling average of three locally acquired cases of COVID-19 per day.
Any travelling maritime crew will be required to complete an Australian Government health declaration
form confirming they have been in New Zealand for the past 14 days. These forms and individual
airline information relating to Australia travel can be found on the Qantas and JetStar websites.
Air New Zealand will be offering two flights a week for those passengers who cannot meet the
required 14 days in New Zealand before travelling. These flights will also carry passengers whose
travel did not originate in New Zealand. These flights are referred to as ‘quarantine’ flights meaning
passengers will need to quarantine on arrival in Australia.
The Maritime Industry Update is issued weekly, usually on each Wednesday. However,
publication days might change when there is a need to provide a quick update.
If you have any questions about updates, or suggestions for what you would like included,
please contact Maritime NZ by emailing MNZCovid-19@maritimenz.govt.nz.
COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 3 of 112. Ongoing sector engagement Sharyn Forsyth, Deputy Director (Communications and Stakeholder Engagement), Maritime New Zealand was asked to speak at the Rail and Maritime Transport Union Conference where she thanked frontline workers for their work at the ports. Of concern to a number of participants was the welfare of seafarers being isolated on vessels and unable to connect with their families as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Ms Forsyth noted that this was an area that was being actively addressed. The first phase of stakeholder engagement on the Required Testing Order was completed last week, with a discussion with the Marine Pilots Association. Maritime New Zealand will shortly be completing its report of the findings from the engagement process, along with a work programme based on those findings. We will keep you posted on the report’s progress. COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 4 of 11
3. Guidance for NZ workers aboard international ships Last weekend a NZ worker was found to have COVID-19. An investigation is under way which includes investigating whether he may have been exposed to an infected crew member from a foreign vessel. This case was well publicised and has heightened interest in the safety of workers in our ports. The ‘Guidance for NZ workers aboard international ships’ has been developed to help the wider community of workers in the maritime sector who in the course of their duties, will often need to board foreign ships. The guidance is based on the principles of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) and links in with the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Maritime Border) Order (No 2) 2020. It provides clarification around the use of PPE and requirements for responding to non-compliance. In addition, Maritime NZ will continue to work with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport and NZ Customs, as well as ports and port worker representatives, on how to best protect workers. This includes the continued refining of the testing programme and measures to enhance safety for port workers. The guidance will be available on Maritime New Zealand’s website before the end of October. COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 5 of 11
4. Answering your questions
There are a huge number of stakeholders in the maritime industry and ports’ supply
chain, and all of you are affected in different ways by COVID-19 and New Zealand’s
response to it.
If you have questions you would like answered, please email MNZCovid-19@maritimenz.govt.nz
by 5 pm, Friday each week.
The latest round of questions and answers are provided below.
Factsheet # 3: 21 October 2020
The following Q and As respond to a number of commonly-asked questions relating to
implementation of the requirements under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required
Testing) Order 2020 and the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Maritime Border) Order (No
2) 2020. They are intended to elaborate on the guidance material previously provided to assist
with the implementation of the testing requirements.
If further clarification is required on any of these questions, or other implementation issues
more widely, please refer questions to: COVID-19testing@health.govt.nz.
We understand that a testing method that is less invasive than the current nasopharyngeal
swab will shortly be available. Will it be available to border workers required to undergo
frequent re-testing, and from when?
The Ministry of Health’s Technical Advisory Committee has confirmed that for border workers being
regularly tested (weekly or fortnightly) who struggle to tolerate the current nasopharyngeal swab, a
single swab used on both the oropharynx (throat) and anterior nasal passage is an acceptable
alternative option.
The Ministry of Health is now working with testing providers to make the alternative swab option
available to all border workers undergoing regular weekly or fortnightly testing. Our aim is to have this
up and running before the end of October.
This alternate swab option is being made available as an option that can be requested by any border
worker undergoing mandatory testing.
The nasopharyngeal swab remains the preferred option due to its higher effectiveness in detecting the
virus. However, as border workers are undergoing testing at such high frequency (fortnightly and, in
some cases, weekly), the greater frequency offsets the reduced effectiveness.
COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 6 of 114. Answering your questions (continued) If a ship arrives in port with a New Zealand crew member who wishes to disembark to return home, do the rest of the crew need to be tested even if they are remaining on the ship which is immediately departing to sail for an overseas port? Yes. The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Maritime Border) Order (No 2) 2020: (https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19- response-planning/covid-19-epidemic-notice-and-orders#maritime) requires that all crew on board the vessel need to meet the low risk indicators, including a negative COVID-19 test, before any person on board can disembark to enter the NZ community. Everyone on the ship must also have done 14 days of quarantine or isolation. This starts from the last contact or last port of call (whichever is later). In the situation described above, in order for the returning NZ crew member to be authorised to disembark, the whole crew would need to meet the low risk indicators. If they return a negative test and meet the other low risk indicators, they could then be authorised to take shore leave. If the ship on which the New Zealand crew member arrived was immediately departing New Zealand, and the crew departed before being tested the returning New Zealand crew member would have to go into a Managed Isolation or Quarantine Facility (MIQF) for 14 days, as for travellers entering NZ by air. If the returning New Zealand crew member arrives at a port at a location where there is no MIFQ, and they are not able to remain on the ship because of the ship’s imminent departure, the local health authorities would have to consider how to manage the crew member’s quarantine. A Medical Officer of Health can determine a different place of quarantine in these circumstances, bearing in mind the need to manage the public health risk around transfer of such a person to an MIQF elsewhere in New Zealand. Are New Zealand domestic maritime crew who were involved in the transport of foreign maritime crew off a bulk carrier, required to get a test? They had little interaction with the foreign crew and all the required protocols regarding public hygiene, distancing and wearing PPE. Yes. These New Zealand domestic crew members are required to get tested under the Required Testing Order, due to the fact that they were on board an “affected ship”. In order to ensure a reliable test result, they should time their test to take place on or around, but no later, than 14 days after their initial contact with the crew on the affected ship. Obviously, if they become unwell before this time, they should immediately call Healthline or contact their GP and be tested. They would not need to be re-tested every fortnight, unless they had further contact with an affected ship, or its crew. Is the local Port Authority notified if ship crew are unwell, symptomatic, or test positive for COVID-19? The local Port Authority, Harbour Master, and Regional Public Health Service must be notified if there is anyone on board a ship that are showing COVID-19 symptoms. Shipping agents can arrange for health professionals (in full PPE) to visit the ship, assess the crew member and undertake a swab for a COVID-19 test. If clinically appropriate, the crew member may be transported directly to hospital for further assessment and care. COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 7 of 11
4. Answering your questions (continued)
Do I have to get tested at the port testing stations?
No.
However, we recommend you get tested at the port you are based, if possible, and (if the testing
clinics are open) when you are rostered to work. This can help avoid long wait times.
You can get tested at another port where you are working if you work at more than one port. You can
also get tested at a community testing centre or, if necessary, at your GP.
If you do go to a community testing centre, or a medical centre or your GP, you should ensure your
test is recorded using the appropriate unique identifier (SURV code), which will record your test and
result against the port where you work. For those port employers or District Health Boards (DHBs)
that refer workers to a GP or a community testing centre via a voucher system, the voucher will
include the appropriate SURV code.
Community testing centres, medical centres and GPs are aware of arrangements DHBs have put in
place for border workers to be tested, if they are unable to access testing available at the port (or
airport) where they work, and they are aware that there is no charge for these tests. When booking an
appointment, please specify that you are a port worker required to be tested under the Required
Testing Order, so you are not charged a consultation fee for the test. If you have any problem
accessing a test at a GP, medical centre or community testing centre, please contact: COVID-
19testing@health.govt.nz.
How should the 14 day testing regime required for border officials and port workers in the
“higher-risk” category be implemented?
The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020 requires border officials and
port workers in the higher-risk category at all New Zealand ports receiving vessels from outside New
Zealand to be tested “every 14 days”.
Port workers classified as “higher-risk” are those who have:
worked as a pilot or a stevedore, carrying out work on or around a ship with a person on board
who is required to be isolated or quarantined in accordance with a COVID-19 order; or
board or have boarded a ship with a person on board who is required to be isolated or quarantined
in accordance with a COVID-19 order; or
are workers who transport persons to and from a ship with a person on board who is required to
be isolated or quarantined in accordance with a COVID-19 order.
Individual workers are required to be tested on the 14th day after they first perform work coming under
the categories described above, and, strictly speaking, on each 14th day thereafter. Therefore, a
worker in the higher-risk category should be tested on the 14th day after their last test on an ongoing
basis. In practice, some discretion is being applied, if there are genuine reasons a person could not
be tested on their 14th day, because they were on leave, because a testing service is not available at
the port on the day in question, or a similar reason. In such situations, a test a day or two earlier than
the 14th day would generally be considered reasonable, and an infringement notice is unlikely to be
issued in those circumstances. This would not be routinely acceptable, however.
COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 8 of 114. Answering your questions (continued) An individual’s clock re-sets every time they have a test, with the next test being required in 14 days’ time. This requirement to have tests in a regularly spaced manner maximises the value of the testing as a detection measure, by ensuring that the full 14-day window is assessed. What is the requirement for frequent testing if a port-worker has only infrequent contact with an affected ship or its crew? Where someone working in an affected port role, for example an electronics technician, makes a one- off visit to an affected ship, the requirement to be tested is also a one-off. The worker should get tested on the 14th day after performing work in an affected port role. A further testing round is not triggered unless and until the worker next performs work on an affected ship. Workers who intermittently work in roles requiring 14-day testing, for example a seafarers’ welfare advocate making an occasional visit to an affected ship, should be tested on the 14th day following the first day they perform this work. If they perform work in an affected role again prior to having their first test (i.e. within the 14 days), they need a further test on the 14th day after their first test, but then do not have to be tested further, unless and until they work again. For clarity, a worker’s final test should be at least 14 days after their final contact with an affected ship. What about workers who are absent from work at the required testing time If workers are absent from work during the required testing period (for example, they are on holiday or not rostered to work during the required testing period), they are still required to comply with their testing requirements under the Required Testing Order. As above, testing must be completed 14 days after the worker’s last routine test, or since first performing work in an affected role at the port. Routine testing needs to be evenly spaced at these intervals. However, there may be situations where this routine spacing is not possible, such as when a worker has leave. In such cases, a test earlier in the cycle is permitted. If the worker is tested while absent from work (but during the current testing period) they must advise their employer of the date and location of their test. If workers are absent from work and are not tested during the required testing period, they should be tested as soon as possible after their return to work. Given privacy considerations, and limits on information sharing, are there any measures in place that will allow employers and employees to confirm that required testing has been undertaken? The Ministry of Health recognises that there are increased expectations on employers to provide certainty that their staff are being tested as required, and expectations on employees to provide their employers with evidence that testing has occurred. In view of this, the Ministry is developing a national register that will automate this information for all parties. COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 9 of 11
4. Answering your questions (continued) The Ministry of Health is currently trialling the system with a few operators at ports, airports and managed isolation and quarantine facilities before rolling it out more widely. It aims is to complete the trials and begin to make the system available during November. Initially, the Ministry will work with employers to load their staff details into the system: this will provide confirmation of how many staff work in affected areas and how often they each need to be tested under the current Order. Once that is done, the system will automatically match those details with the National Health Index – the data system within which health professionals and testing providers record testing data. By matching these details, the new system will enable employers to see which staff have completed a test and on what date. It will not record the results of the test. This approach, which only confirms whether or not a required test has taken place, will satisfy the confirmation requirements for both employers and employees, while protecting individual health data, and maintaining all appropriate privacy protections. COVID-19 Maritime industry update 52 Page 10 of 11
5. Key sources of information
The following links provide you with key sources of information.
For all your questions, and to provide information and make suggestions – Maritime NZ
MNZCovid-19@maritimenz.govt.nz
Port and maritime guidelines and other information
www.maritimenz.govt.nz – click on the COVID-19 banner on the home page
Official health advice, including PPE guidance – Ministry of Health
www.health.govt.nz/
Up-to-date information across the transport sector (land, sea and air) – Ministry of Transport
www.transport.govt.nz/about/covid-19/
All New Zealand COVID-19 legislation
www.pco.govt.nz/covid-19-legislation/
New Zealand’s campaign to stamp out COVID-19
www.covid19.govt.nz
Information for businesses operating under alert levels
www.business.govt.nz/covid-19/operating-at-alert-levels/
Wage Subsidy Scheme information
www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/resurgence-wage-subsidy/index.html
Managed Isolation and Quarantine
www.miq.govt.nz/
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