Business travel, events suspended at L.A., Long Beach ports
The Port of Los Angeles has suspended business travel, as the nation’s largest port announced late last week what it was doing to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
There have been no reported cases of the virus in the port complex, said spokesman Phillip Sanfield.
But business travel is typically substantial throughout the course of the year at the port, Sanfield said, and now will be suspended except in rare cases.
All terminals remain open with cargo moving, the Los Angles and Long Beach ports reported.
At the Port of Long Beach, the flood of new protocols was being assessed as the situation changed almost hourly last week.
“We’re actively monitoring the outbreak and continuing to work with our partners in the City Health and Human Services Department, as well as (U.S.) Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection,” said Port of Long Beach spokesman Lee Peterson.
The two ports already were dealing with a significant downturn in cargo volumes as factories in China have been slow to reopen following the Lunar New Year celebration and then the virus sweeping through that part of the world.
Now, the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has impacted both agencies on their home turf.
“Coronavirus is first and foremost a public health crisis that needs to be brought under control,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka in a video the port released Thursday.
COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, is caused by a virus named SARS-COV-2. Symptoms
associated with the respiratory disease, which appear two-to-14 days after exposure, include fever, a cough and shortness of breath. While most people — including healthy young adults — will experience mild symptoms, the disease can be severe and possibly fatal for atrisk groups, such as the elderly and those with other health problems.
While Seroka said the port was conducting “business as usual,” the agency’s usually packed public travel calendar will be sharply cut back.
“Many of our cargo and marketing team customers are based in Asia and Europe,” Sanfield said.
Because of that, Sanfield said, there is normally frequent travel throughout the world that will now be curtailed.
Conference attendance also will be impacted but participants can now be connected remotely via teleconferencing or video, he said.
Also suspended are school and business boat tours. (Most schools in Southern California, of course, have already been suspended.)
To minimize the possible further spread of the virus, both ports, as Peterson said, continue working with federal and local partners, including the CDC, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Department of Public Health.
Staff will also not attend large conferences, and a STEM Funshop scheduled for Saturday, March 14, has been canceled.
In Long Beach, the annual “Pulse of the Ports: Peak Season Forecast,” scheduled for March 25, has also been canceled. The event draws some 500 to 600 guests for a panel discussion about cargo trends.
A working group is meeting daily at the Port of Los Angeles to “assess and guide decisions moving forward,” officials said.
Cargo volumes, Seroka pointed out, are “soft,” with 41 canceled vessels between mid-february and April 1. But the flow, he said, is expected to ramp up in the months ahead as the factories in China get back to full production, a trend already underway.
Seroka said much of the focus now is on keeping port workers safe during what he acknowledged was a challenging time — during which “we’re all a bit anxious.”