Madeira imposes mandatory testing on cruise ship passengers

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

The docking of the first cruise ship in Funchal, after the start of the pandemic, is scheduled for Saturday and passengers who want to disembark will have to present a negative test to Covid-19 or perform it on arrival, said the regional government today.

“The strategy will be similar to that of the airport,” said the Regional Secretary of Health, Pedro Ramos, on the sidelines of the presentation of two capsules for transporting people with an infectious disease at the Regional Civil Protection Service in Funchal.

And he reinforced: “In addition, in the case of the cruise, all passengers will have to have a negative test on departure to be able to embark. Then, depending on the duration of the cruise to reach the region, we will see if there is a need to do a test on arrival.”

The Regional Government, of the PSD / CDS-PP coalition, determined that all passengers disembarked at Madeira’s ports and airports present a negative PCR test carried out up to 72 hours before the start of the trip, or else they must perform it on arrival.

The measure has been in effect since July 1, and the executive has already invested 10 million euros in testing.

“Whoever wants to land in Funchal will be tested,” said the secretary, stressing that the measure applies even if the ship – the ‘SeaDream I’, with about 100 passengers – remains in the port for a period shorter than necessary to obtain the result of the test, which is 12 hours.

According to the Health Administration Institute (IASAÚDE), the Madeira archipelago currently records 103 active cases of covid-19, of which 95 were identified in the context of surveillance activities implemented at Madeira Airport, and eight are for local transmission.

From RTP Madeira

I cant see the point of carrying out tests on people if they won’t get the results back in time, if they don’t already carry a test then I’m sure they cant be allowed off the boat. I think the cruise ships should have these new rapid tests, and they should be responsible for each passenger. Madeira has already spent 10 million in testing and over 2 million putting those positive in hotels…..

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Tobi Hughes

11 Responses

  1. Thank the Lord!
    When I read the cruise ships were coming back I was very worried for the good people of the island who have worked so hard to keep safe.

    We are flying in on 2/11 for a month and looking forward to being with you.

  2. The point is; if people do not have the test on time to disembark means they will not make the test at arrival and will not disembark. Only the ones who have the negative test done elsewhere will be able to do so.

    From the legal point of view you have to give people options just like they are doing at the airport, you cannot just say they cannot disembark because they do not have a negative test. You either disembark with the negative test or you get tested upon arrival.

  3. This will probably mean that those who are not in possession of a negative covid test will not be able to disembark. Let us hope that the new breath test developed in the Netherlands will soon be widely available. It would instantly indicate 75% of the negative persons with as good as 100% accuracy, the remaining 25% would have to be tested traditionally. In the Netherlands to device will be available end of next month, thus freeing up an enormous capacity in the normal test capacity. It would be fantastic for the airport as well.

    1. Peter, the Netherlands breath test sounds really good – especially the instant result. 75% of people is a very good rate. And, of course, not as intrusive as swab tests.

      You made me laugh because you reminded me of a phrase from the comedy film Anchorman: “60% of the time, it works every time.”

  4. Someone needs to do a study to see how much each passenger spends while on the island. If each test costs €100 each and each passenger spends less or not much more, what’s the point?

    I think the statement “depending on the duration of the cruise to reach the region, we will see if there is a need to do a test on arrival.” is worrying. They need a clear procedure of ‘test everyone entering’. The minute you start making exceptions, it the thin edge of the wedge. ?

  5. I was also very concerned for your lovely people when I heard that a cruise ship was coming. Glad to hear that this was happening. Stay safe and can’t wait till March.

  7. I agree that the cruise ships should have testing facilities on board, looking forward to may when hopefully we can have our long awaited holiday.

  8. Following the terrible problems with the virus on cruise ships at the beginning of the pandemic I would have thought it prudent to have all passengers and crew to be tested before they get on the ship. Perhaps that would help provide a virus free ship upon arrival. I certainly would not want to board a cruise ship today, without mass testing, knowing how bad things were in March. We are keeping our fingers crossed for our visit at Christmas. Thank you, so much, to all Madeirans for helping to keep the Island a safe destination.

  9. Happy to notice cruise shipping is returning. appreciating that testing covid19 seems good for cruise pax, Wonder why airport testing does not cover all passengers. And also, the ones tested should stay under observance util proven negative. Did read the article on Madeira Direct. it said that plenty are visiting pubs, etc in awaiting results, that must not be!

    Peter B

  10. I appreciate the testing we had on arrival at the airport and duly isolated till our result. But on departure on the 19th with Jet2 the airport herded us to gate 13, no seating except the small cafe there and close on 200 passengers standing shoulder to shoulder for nearly I hour. No announcements, no ground staff, just a sliding door that opened eventually for boarding. What plan is this? We spent our money on the island, we came without Covid, and basically the airport don’t give a care if we contract it in a hot sweaty confined space. Duty of care- non existent. No thanks to you my health was compromised, but hey you had our euros by then! I made the crew manager on the flight aware and they were disgusted that passengers were treated this way. Would I come back to Madeira? Not to be treated like this again. Am I putting this info out there? You bet I am!!!

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