A suspected case of Covid-19 at Paradip Port, patient moved to hospital in Cuttack

Bhubaneswar: A crew member of a cargo vessel off Paradip Port suspected of suffering from COVID-19 has been shifted to the SCB Medical College in Cuttack. The man, an Indian, is a member of cargo vessel MT Chemstar Stellar waiting in the anchorage at the port.

A fever and sore throat on Monday raised concerns of a possible novel coronavirus infection needing his quick hospitalization, said a statement from the port. “He along with all the crews were examined on board today by the PPT hospital medical team in consultation with the Port’s health officer. The man and his wife were transferred to SCB Medical College in Cuttack for further evaluation and management, following the strict protocol for the same,” said the statement.

The vessel, carrying 20,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid, came to anchorage off Paradip Port on 1 March 2020 and has travelled through China, South Korea and Singapore since 10 February 2020.


Rinkesh Roy, Chairman, PPT allayed fears of a Covid-19 outbreak, stating that the port’s medical team had worked closely with the local administration and SCB Medical College. Evacuating the suspected patient required for the vessel to be berthed for a brief 15minutes during which the cabin was also sanitized as per protocol. The vessel has returned to anchorage. The case was still a suspected case and not a confirmed case of Covid-19 infection at the time of filing the story.