9.4 Navigating COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted JOIDES Resolution expeditions in early 2020. After IODP Expedition 378 (Jan-Feb 2020), the JR activities shifted to engineering testing and reentry installations. The first full group of science participants returned to the JR for IODP Expedition 391 in December 2021 – and, as the caption details above, the ship had to return to port temporarily because of confirmed COVID-19 cases among the crew.
Beginning of expedition during COVID
The following text is from the Preliminary Report of IODP Expedition 395E. This engineering work to core and complete reentry systems for future expeditions sailed April-June 2021. Pages 16 and 17 of the report detail the procedures and precautions that were implemented during this time of COVID-19.
Expedition 395E (Complete South Atlantic Transect Reentry Systems) started in Cape Town, South Africa, at 0800 h (UTC + 2 h) on 6 April 2021. There was no science party on the ship during Expedition 395E because of COVID pandemic travel restrictions and safety concerns. JRSO personnel had arrived in Cape Town on 1 April to quarantine in the hotel for 7 days prior to boarding. They took COVID-19 tests on 4 and 7 April, and these tests returned negative results, enabling the JRSO personnel to board the R/V JOIDES Resolution on 8 April.
However, three of the Siem Offshore crew tested positive for COVID-19 in the hotel, so they and their 14 close contacts quarantined longer than originally planned. The extra quarantine time meant that the ship was not able to depart as originally scheduled on 11 April. These crew members were tested again on 11 April and the results came back negative for the close contacts. On 13 April, an additional round of testing of all shipboard personnel was conducted dockside, with everybody testing negative. The 14 close-contact crew members boarded JOIDES Resolution early on 15 April. The three original cases were not allowed to join the ship and returned home at the earliest opportunity.
There were an abundance of precautionary practices put in place to ensure the safety of everyone before they boarded JOIDES Resolution and while on board, detailed in a document from the JOIDES Resolution Science Operator (JRSO) called COPE (COVID Mitigation Protocols Established for Safe JR Operations). The protocols were the most restrictive in 2020 and lessened moving forward in time as COVID conditions and cases were declining.
Several individuals that sailed on JOIDES Resolution during this time documented what it was like to have their expeditions postponed, to isolate at home, to spend a week in hotel quarantine, to mask on board, and many other necessary adjustments.
Maya Pincus, Outreach Officer for IODP EXP 391/397T, wrote blog posts about being the first expedition going through the COPE protocols, what it was like being on the JR when the ship turned around – and then, having COVID herself when she rejoined the JR for EXP 397T.
- COVID on Deck (Part 1: EXP391) [JR blog post, Sept. 2022]
- COVID on Deck (Part 2: The New Normal) [JR blog post, Oct. 2022]
- COVID on Deck (Part 3: It happened to me) [JR blog post, Oct. 2022]
Laura Guertin, Outreach Officer for IODP EXP 390, also wrote blog posts and documented what it was like to hear she was sailing, then wasn’t sailing, then was sailing… and what her week in hotel quarantine in Cape Town was like.
- Still waiting for my ships to sail… my journey back to the ocean [Journeys of Dr. G, on handling two different ocean expeditions during the pandemic, March 2022]
- DrGw390 – Week of quarantine [Journeys of Dr. G, April 2022]
Maya and Laura then decided to record a conversation for the StoryCorps Archive Tales from the Deep comparing their hotel quarantine experiences.
Additional scientists recorded their COVID experiences, ranging from the fear to relief, with the Tales from the Deep collection. Take a listen to this conversation with Deepa Dwyer, physical properties specialist on JOIDES Resolution for IODP Expedition 395 (June-August 2023). From a COVID-delayed expedition to her own COVID challenges, Deepa shares her incredible journey to sailing for two months, and the supportive people that made her time on the ship happen.
Sedimentologist Mike Kaplan and Outreach Officer Laura Guertin, both from IODP EXP 390, compare experiences staying safe from COVID-19 in 2022 before joining and during their time on JOIDES Resolution, in addition to how they spent time in hotel quarantine.
Carrying out any oceanographic research expedition required protocols in place to ensure the safety for all prior to and while onboard. Much was learned, from the necessary logistics to the emotional preparation and journey, to ensure readiness for any pandemic or other medical outbreak that may occur in the future.
