The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) decided to review the rules for boarding, disembarkation and transport of travelers on cruise ships in force since the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic. The drop in the number of cases and deaths from the disease in Brazil motivated the review.
There will no longer be, for example, constant monitoring of the health situation of travelers on board, with daily testing of passengers and crew. The use of a mask only remains mandatory in specific situations, such as in the case of people who have had contact with those who suspect they are sick or have confirmed they have the virus, and in the case of quarantine on the vessel, when all occupants must wear a mask.
Vessels still need to keep track of cases on board and have plans for prevention and response to covid-19, but this plan will no longer be evaluated by the agency before the start of operations, but during inspections. The health control of boarding starts to accept, for the admission of passengers and crew on the ship, the complete primary vaccination schedule or negative test for covid-19. Until then, vaccination was mandatory and could not be replaced by the presentation of a test.
Anvisa also revoked the ban on collective events at terminals, on simultaneous operations at the same terminal, and on the mandatory complete vaccination of terminal workers. The limit of 75% occupancy of the vessel was also revoked. A novelty brought by the new resolution is that vessels coming from abroad will only be able to enter Brazilian ports designated by the World Health Organization, in order to ensure that there is an Anvisa inspection team at these entry points.
In this latest decision, Anvisa maintained the obligation of free medical care on board for suspected cases, the testing of suspected cases and close contacts, the need for isolation for suspected cases on board, in addition to the existence of a plan to prevent and respond to covid. 19 on board. Vessels must ensure a minimum reservation of 2% of cabins for isolation of confirmed and suspected cases.
The decision by Anvisa’s board, given at an extraordinary meeting held this afternoon (29), took into account the drop in the number of cases and deaths from covid-19 in Brazil. During the meeting, the reporting director, Daniel Fernandes Pereira, highlighted in his vote the 33% reduction in the number of new cases compared to August. The moving average in the same period also follows a downward trend, albeit less expressive, of 4%.
“Considering the evolution of the epidemiological scenario, the advance of vaccination in Brazil and in the world, the monitoring of operations on vessels during two months of cruise operations in the 2021/2022 seasons, it was necessary to reassess the requirements for embarkation and disembarkation and transport of travelers on vessels that will circulate through Brazil in the 2022/2023 cruise ship season, in order to maintain the proportionality and effectiveness of the measures in the face of the current health risk”, said the rapporteur of the resolution approved today.
