"(Business in Cameroon) - The Managing Director of the Port Authority of Kribi [PAK] wishes to reassure operators and the general public that the situation is under total control and that activities are being carried out as usual on the port platform.” This was the message published on April 5, by Jocelyn Ako'o, the chief technical adviser at the PAK. This message comes after 32 port staff who came in contact with the coronavirus were quarantined. According to the release, all the 32 staff will be tested for covid-19.

It all started on April 3, 2020, when an employee of one of the port’s concessionaire was tested positive for Covid-19. The said employee, coming from the USA, entered Cameroon on March 16. He was immediately quarantined in Yaoundé, for the 14 regulatory days and tested positive for Covid-19. On April 2, he resumed his professional duties at the port before being informed of his positive status on the evening of April 3.

 "The following day, informed of the situation, the Managing Director of the PAK, together with the employer of the person concerned, immediately initiated the stated precautionary measures,” Jocelyn Ako'o recounts in the release.

It was decided that all those with whom the positive case has been in direct contact with would be identified and placed under full quarantine. Also, those who have been in contact with the people who met with the positive case will be isolated at their homes, with no contact until further notice.

Let’s note that since the announcement of the escalation of the covid-19 epidemic in Cameroon, the PAK management has set up a crisis unit and ordered the application of several protective measures. This includes the provision of personal protective equipment (suits, gloves, masks, thermo-flash, etc.) to the port health personnel and the Kribi Health District, the systematic boarding of all ships at bay and their full inspection before docking at the Port of Kribi as well as the installation of hydro-alcoholic gel dispensing devices on all sites housing its services.

Also, the management has prescribed daily temperature readings for PAK staff, the suspension of non-professional visits and meetings, the confinement of all of the PAK staff in Kribi with the formal prohibition to leave the town. The staff is also encouraged to use a teleworking platform.

S.A.