Second Steamship Authority employee tests positive for COVID-19
Two Steamship Authority vessels were temporarily taken out of service as a result.
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Two Steamship Authority vessels were temporarily taken out of service after a second employee tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the quasi-public agency announced Sunday.
The employee worked on both the M/V Woods Hole and the M/V Governor and learned about the positive test results on Saturday, the Steamship Authority said in a statement. The employee last worked Saturday on the M/V Governor. Another worker had tested positive for the virus on Friday.
The employee was “unlikely to have prolonged exposure with any member of the public” due to the person’s typical work duties, the Steamship Authority said; the person’s identity and position were not released “to ensure their private health information remains confidential,” the statement said. Twenty-three Steamship Authority workers will be tested for COVID-19 on Monday.
The first employee was aboard the M/V Woods Hole vessel that departed Hyannis at noon on Aug. 25 and ended with its 11:30 a.m. arrival at Hyannis the following day.
Outside vendors were cleaning both vessels on Sunday, the statement said. All high-touch areas, including hand railings, table tops, door handles, seats, faucets, and toilets are cleaned and disinfected multiple times a day.
Sunday’s trip cancellations are a “necessary step to take for the general welfare of our customers and crews,” Steamship Authority General Manager Robert Davis said in the statement.
“Our employees have done an extraordinary job following our COVID-19 protocols thus far, for which I am grateful,” Davis said. “However, given the proximity of these two test results and the number of crew members who have potentially been exposed, these temporary operational changes are the best way to ensure the health and safety of everyone.”
On Monday and Tuesday, the M/V Sankaty will run to Nantucket in place of the M/V Woods Hole for the first two scheduled round trips of the day. The third scheduled round trip, which was slated to leave Hyannis at 5:30 p.m. and leave Nantucket at 8 p.m. both days, will be canceled. All scheduled trips of the M/V Sankaty on the Vineyard route on Monday and Tuesday will be canceled.
Meanwhile, M/V Woods Hole will temporarily return to the Vineyard route, running in place of the M/V Governor on Monday for all seven of that vessel’s scheduled round trips. On Tuesday, it will run the first four scheduled round trips of the M/V Governor; the last three round trips of the day for that vessel will be canceled.
For more information, visit the Steamship Authority’s website.
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