about 150 dockworkers on the West Coast were tested, and about 100 of them tested positive, a positivity rate of almost 67 percent, with about 80 percent of those positive in Southern California.
At the same time, Australia in the southern hemisphere is also being attacked by the epidemic.
Nearly half of Australia's truck drivers test positive/quarantine
According to Reuters, Australia reported 116,025 new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in a single day on the 8th, due to the wide spread of the Omicron variant, setting a new record for the country's highest number of new confirmed cases since the epidemic.
So far, Australia has more than 1.1 million confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia.
The spread of the Omicron variant has exacerbated the labor shortage in container logistics in Australia, putting the country's container shipping industry under enormous pressure.
Australian media: Nearly half of truck drivers tested positive or quarantined
Last week, local media reported that supermarket shelves across Australia were being left empty as "nearly half" of truck drivers tested positive or were absent due to quarantine rules!
Australian supermarket chain Woolworths said some stores had run out of stock due to delayed deliveries and supply chain difficulties. Another supermarket chain, Coles Group, has imposed restrictions on the purchase of poultry and meat products, saying it "expects a few weeks to fully restore (supply)".
Industry insiders say the country's testing regulations and a lack of testing kits for transport workers are the source of supply chain disruptions.
Drivers are delivering rapid tests to be sold on supermarket and pharmacy shelves, according to Transport Workers Unio national secretary Michael Kaine. But they, like most Australians, do not have access to these tests themselves.
On Wednesday, the government scrapped a seven-day rolling test rule for truck drivers to ease capacity shortages.
However, Neil Chambers, head of the Container Transport Alliance of Australia (CTAA), revealed that because the rule only applies to lorry drivers who cross state borders, “rather than the vast majority of goods transported within cities or states. ".
This has a limited effect on alleviating the shortage of truck drivers.
He also said the highly contagious Omicron virus had "changed the game in Australia's container logistics chain", putting it under "tremendous pressure and impact everywher!".
Chambers explained: "Container shipping operators across Australia have reported to the CTAA that they have nearly 20 per cent fewer staff available due to COVID-19 infections and quarantine requirements, including heavy vehicle drivers, warehouse staff, forklift drivers, container de-packers and administrators. In extreme cases, there can be a 50% shortage of available labor.”
"Complementary to this is staff shortages at customer sites, international container terminals and empty container yards across the country, significantly delaying the movement of containers through the supply chain."
Maersk: Stop calling at the Port of Brisbane for 17 days
Last week, port operator DP World said that due to the reduction of terminal staff due to the new crown pneumonia, there have been delays in berthing operations at the terminal!
DP World added: “Roughly 10% of our workforce is currently affected, either infected with Covid-19 or quarantined due to positive cases at home. Given the ongoing wave of the outbreak, we expect the impact of dockworkers to The number will continue to increase!"
In view of this, Maersk recently issued an urgent notice that due to the serious port congestion (Due to the heavy port congestion), its Dragon service in Australia, which shares cabins with Venus Ship GSL, will be suspended from 8 Jan to 25 Jan 2022 to call at the Port of Brisbane. The anchoring time will be more than half a month (17 days)!
The following ships will stop calling at the Port of Brisbane within 17 days:
Not only the Port of Brisbane, but Neil Chambers, head of the Container Transport Alliance of Australia (CTAA), said that all Australian ports are currently facing "significant problems" with container ship berthing delays, with Sydney and Melbourne havin the longest delays. 9 days have arrived!
