By ROY MABASA
The number of Filipinos onboard cruise ship MV Diamond Princess who have tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 is now 27, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Citing a report from the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, the DFA said the number includes the 16 new cases that were confirmed last Saturday.
All 27 Filipinos who tested positive for the virus are crew members of the cruise ship. There are more than 500 Filipinos employed by the Diamond Princess.
However, it noted that no Filipinos are included in the new group of 70 confirmed cases announced by the Japanese government last Sunday.
The Japanese Health Ministry had earlier announced that all crew and passengers onboard will be tested today and test results will be available by the time the ship’s quarantine period ends.
“The Embassy is in close coordination with the relevant Philippine and Japanese government agencies, and representatives of the World Health Organization and Princess Cruises, to ensure that the needs of the Filipino crew and passengers are met and to facilitate their return to the Philippines,” the DFA said.
REPATRIATION
Meanwhile, the Department of Health admitted that they have no concrete plan yet on how to handle the over 500 Filipinos in the Diamond Princess, with only two days remaining in the quarantine period for the people inside the ship.
Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing that they are still finalizing plans for the repatriation, saying a meeting with the interagency task force is slated Monday afternoon while a “high-level meeting will be held Tuesday to arrive in a final agreement about the repatriation.”
“We are considering that all of these people would be considered for quarantine once they come back. Talks are still under way on the quarantine facility that will be provided for them,” Vergeire added.
The Health official also confirmed that the Japan Embassy and the cruise ship “are requesting that we can already do the repatriation once quarantine is over.”
“Those coming from Wuhan, it will apply the same protocol for those coming from this cruise ship in Japan. But of course the situation is different since there are more of them and they came from a confined space. These factors will have to be considered for us to appropriately manage them.” (with a report from Betheena Unite)
