Port of Los Angeles officials said Monday that cargo continues to move throughout all terminals at about 80% of expected operations, and they are making efforts to protect the port’s workforce against the novel coronavirus.
“I want to thank Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Gov. Gavin Newsom for their leadership and decisive action last week to enact statewide stay at home measures to help control the pandemic outbreak,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said. “Working together and with our partners in the private sector, we can fully leverage the strength of the port during this crisis.”
Although the port is operating at 80% of normal business, down from about 85% last week, it’s moving about half the amount of cargo it did last year at the height of the trade war between the China and the U.S., and China is the port’s largest trade partner.
“It’s important for us to keep the supply chain fluid for essential commodities going to the American public, as well as medical supplies going to our health care professionals,” Seroka said. “But at the same time, we can’t let other commodities slow down the movement of these all-important goods.”
Seroka said the health of the port’s workforce is at the top of his priorities, and the U.S. Coast Guard has been conducting screenings of crew members docking in the LA Harbor area. Crew members from ships that are not based out of the U.S. cannot currently come on land unless they need specific medical treatment.
The port is also preparing for the arrival of the U.S. Navy’s USNS Mercy hospital ship, which will provide 1,000 beds to treat people who are not suffering from coronavirus symptoms in order to take some of the pressure off land-based hospitals.
USNS Mercy departed Naval Station San Diego Monday for Los Angeles with more than 800 Navy medical personnel onboard.
The ship and its staff will not treat patients with the coronavirus but will offer a broad range of medical and surgical support, with the exceptions of obstetrics and pediatrics, said Real Adm. Timothy Weber, the commander of the Naval Medical Corps Pacific and director of the Medical Service Corps.
The ship will serve as a referral hospital for non-COVID-19 patients admitted to shore-based hospitals and will provide a full spectrum of medical care including general surgeries, critical care and ward care for adults.
The Mercy’s presence will allow Los Angeles-area health professionals to focus on treating coronavirus patients and for shore-based hospitals to use their intensive care units and ventilators for those patients, Weber said.
The ship also has 70-plus civil service mariners aboard who operate and navigate the vessel, load and off-load mission cargo, assist with repairs to mission equipment and provide essential services to keep the medical facility up and running.
Officials said they will provide regular updates on the coronavirus, and a video statement from Seroka can be seen on the port’s website at portoflosangeles.org.