Infected Pinoys on ship rise to 80

MANILA, Philippines, February 26 ------ Twenty-one more Filipinos from the cruise ship Diamond Princess have tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), bringing to at least 80 the number of those who had to skip yesterday’s repatriation to submit to treatment in Japan. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that with this development, the projected number of 480 Filipinos to be repatriated on two special flights back to the Philippines had dwindled to 450.

Records show there were 538 Filipino crew and passengers on board the virus-stricken ship, with 80 of them contracting the virus. Two of the Filipinos who got infected have recovered but there is a “special arrangement” for their repatriation. “Only those who tested negative and are asymptomatic (to COVID-19) can join the repatriation. Maybe around 450 passengers were repatriated. This does not include the nine medical team members from DOH (Department of Health) and four from DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs),” he said in a radio interview.

The repatriates were to arrive last night at Clark International Airport in Pampanga and then taken directly to the Athletes’ Village in New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac. Special flights fetched them at Haneda airport in Japan yesterday with the first chartered flight, Philippine Airlines’ PR-8422, departing Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 around 10:30 a.m. The other chartered flight departed NAIA at 12:20 p.m. Both were direct flights to Haneda with two pilots and six cabin crew each.

All cabin crew are to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) on the flight back to Clark, authorities said. The first flight had one passenger representing the DFA while the second had two DFA representatives aboard. Earlier, officials from the Philippine embassy in Tokyo, DFA and the DOH medical team were in Yokohama for the disembarkation of the Filipinos from the Diamond Princess.

Duque noted that the Japanese government used military buses to transport the Filipinos from the ship docked off Yokohama to the Haneda airport where they were again tested for symptoms by quarantine officers. The DFA ensured the repatriates were well taken care of from disembarkation until their safe arrival in the Philippines last night. It also took care of preparations such as securing clearances and permits for the disembarkation, land transfer and arrangements for the chartered flights. A source told The STAR manning agency Magsaysay Maritime Corp. is paying for the repatriation of the Filipino ship crew from Japan.

Source: philstar.com