'Govt Should Keep Tight Curbs On Shipping Crew'

The Hong Kong Seamen's Union on Friday said Hong Kong should keep its infection control measures for sailors tight as the city is reeling under new coronavirus outbreaks.

Its chairman, Cheung Sai-teng, told RTHK that the SAR has been relatively lax compared with other ports that allow the rotation of seafarers.

He said that under new measures implemented from July 8, health officials will collect test samples from sailors arriving from overseas.

But there's a chance that infected sailors could still get into the community if they don't exercise self-discipline, he said.

Cheung said sometimes when the crew arrive in Hong Kong, they find the vessels may not have arrived and so they have to stay in hotels temporarily.

He doesn't believe there would be a huge impact if the government bars vessels from changing their sailors here because not many have been doing so these days.

On Thursday, health officials said that around 140 sailors in six different ships were under quarantine in their vessels anchored off Lamma Island after some of the crew tested positive.

The sailors had flown into the city and headed to their vessels after taking a virus test at the airport. But by the time the test results arrived, they had boarded the ships.