GREG MORTIMER

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Cruise ship left Montevideo after two months

The 'Greg Mortimer', which was affected by COVID-19, left the Uruguayan coast after being stranded for almost two months with a crew of 24 people, bound for Las Palmas with an ETA as of June 7. The Swede captain Sten Joachim Saterskog acknowledged how excited and grateful he was with Uruguay. The decision to allow the 'Greg Mortimer' to leave came after the ship was disinfected and all of its crew were tested negative for COVID-19. On May 12, 63 crew members had already been evacuated (some positive and others negative) who, to date, were staying in two hotels in Montevideo, depending on their health status, waiting to leave for their homes. The cruise ship left Ushuaia on March 15 and arrived in Montevideo when one of its occupants, the first to be evacuated, on March 31, had physical problems. The ship was anchored in a service area" about 20 kilometers from Montevideo, where those who remained on board and received health and supply services. On April 17, a 48-year-old Filipino crew member died in Montevideo after being admitted to a medical center for respiratory problems.

Three crew members interned at Casmu

Three crew members of the 'Greg Mortimer' with Covid-19 were interned at Casmu. They are two Hondurans and one Colombian who presented problems due to allergies, gastric and inflammatory conditions. On May 19, they were transferred from the hotel to Casmu. They did not present respiratory problems and will be well cared for. Days ago, the ship's crew was taken to two hotels. The group that does not have the disease went to the Regency Golf Hotel Urban hotel, while another nucleus of 36 coronavirus-infected crew members were taken to the Regency Way Hotel.

Crew evacuated into two hotels for quarantine

The crew of the 'Greg Mortimer', affected by COVID-19 and whose passengers were repatriated to their respective countries in April, were evacuated on May 12 to be accommodated in two hotels in Montevideo, where they will face quarantine. In a special device organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, 63 of the nearly 90 employees from the Australian company Aurora Expeditions who were still on board descended from the ship. The first to descend from the ship were the 27 who tested negative. They boarded a bus which headed to the Regency Golf Hotel Urban, in the Uruguayan capital, conditioned for isolation. Later, the 36 who to date are registered as positive fell. They got into another vehicle which went to the Regency Way Hotel, also prepared to house the sick with all the sanitary guarantees. All of them left the ship with special protection suits and their respective luggage, undergoing an exhaustive disinfection prior to boarding the buses. Another 20 workers were left on board for the safety of the ship. The Minister of Foreign Affairs accompanied the operation at all times and went to two hotels to supervise their entry. The operation was carried out under strict protocols for both the crew and the staff of the hotels where they will be housed, who will not maintain any contact with the crew. The crew expressed their gratitude to Uruguay and from the port a banner was read saying "Thank you, Uruguayan brothers" and a man wearing a Peñarol shirt. During the transfer to the hotel they received the affection of several Uruguayans who saluted this device protected by ambulances and a police escort and even the arrival at the hotel of the infected was amid applause from the neighbours. After 14 days of quarantine in "total and complete isolation" and a second negative test by COVID-19, non-essential crew members will be able to return to their countries after three more days without symptoms. When all the essential personnel of the cruise ship are negative and disinfection has been carried out, Uruguay will authorize the departure of the ship towards Las Palmas, the original destination of the 'Greg Mortimer' which left Ushuaia on March 15 and arrived in Montevideo when one person, the first to be evacuated, on March 31, had physical problems and no other nearby authority allowed him to disembark. Since then the ship was anchored in a service area about 20 kilometers from Montevideo, where the crew received health and supply services.