On Jan. 20, as the Los Angeles Times reported that nearly 700 longshoreworkers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach had been infected with the covid-19 and that hundreds more were being quarantined, potentially causing major delays to port cargo operations.
The Port of Los Angeles, the largest in the United States, has been under constant pressure from the influx of containers, and as the epidemic has spread, so has the rate of infection among longshoremen.
The surge in container imports has also caused congestion at ports, making it harder for lorries and vans to move goods quickly out of the ports and leaving ships waiting to dock in large numbers.
Officials at the Port of Los Angeles say 1,800 workers are currently out of work because of the covid-19, including those who are infected, quarantined and waiting to be tested.
Container throughput at the Port of Los Angeles fell nearly 19 percent in the first few months of the outbreak.
But in the second half of 2020, container throughput increased by nearly 50%.
This has led to a backlog of cargo at the ports, a surge in the number of containers and a shortage of staff at the terminals.
As of January 19th, 45 ships were docked outside the two ports waiting to unload, the most unusual months-long delay in six years.
"Without immediate action, the nation's largest ports could be at risk of closure," U.S. representatives wrote in a letter to health officials in California and Los Angeles County.
The two lawmakers said the ports are a critical infrastructure for the United States and a vital logistics route for medical supplies to fight the epidemic. The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports are the two ports through which pandemic equipment from Asia, including face masks, disinfectants and respirators, enters the United States.
Dansk Bilspedition A/S
