Gov't hit for poor virus management at ports

Health authorities move Russian sailors who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 to hospitals from a Russian vessel docked at Gamcheon Port in Busan, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

The government is facing criticism over its bungled COVID-19 screening procedures for arrivals at seaports following an outbreak involving at least 17 Russian sailors on a vessel that docked at the southern port city of Busan.

Fears are growing about a possible community spread of the coronavirus from the infected Russians as they have already come into contact with more than 150 Korean dockworkers.

Health experts said the contact between the Russians and Koreans could have been prevented if the authorities at the port had carried out stricter screening procedures for arrivals from Russia amid the recent rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases there.

"The government's virus management system aimed at preventing an inflow of COVID-19 from overseas has focused more on airports rather than seaports," professor Ki Mo-ran at the National Cancer Center said. "It seems the government failed to take Russia's recent situation into consideration."

The Russian cargo ship Ice Stream with 21 sailors on board departed from Vladivostok, June 16, and docked at Gamcheon Port in Busan, Sunday, carrying frozen marine products.

The government has asked foreign ships, except for those coming from China, Iran and Italy, to fill in electronically registered documents to submit the health condition of sailors and a ship's log to the local authorities. The Russian vessel was allowed to dock at the port after stating in its document that there were no significant health issues among its crew.

The sailors then conducted loading and unloading work with Korean dockworkers the same day.

The authorities conducted coronavirus tests on the sailors Monday, only after receiving notice that the ship's captain, who had returned to Russia, was confirmed to have COVID-19.

Sixteen sailors were found to be infected with the virus, and the crew's claim that there were no sick sailors turned out to be a lie as three of them had already been showing symptoms of a fever.

One more Russian sailor was infected with the virus on another Russian ship that arrived at the port earlier than the Ice Stream.

Experts said letting the Russian sailors only fill in the electronically registered documents was insufficient to contain the influx of the virus, considering the spike in the number of new cases in that country.

Amid mounting criticism, the authorities began boarding ships arriving at Busan from Russia to carry out a more thorough screening procedure, Wednesday.

"The government will restrict port entry to ships if they do not report sailors showing symptoms associated with the coronavirus," said Kim Joon-seok, a senior official of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Korea added 51 COVID-19 cases ― 31 local and 20 imported infections ― Tuesday, raising the nation's total to 12,535, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Pevention. The death toll remained unchanged at 281.

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