COVID-19 positive crew who sailed in from Indonesia now self-isolating –DOH

The 12 Filipino crew members of a vessel that recently arrived from Indonesia are now self-isolating after they tested positive for COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.

Eleven of the crewmen are currently aboard the vessel docked at the Albay port, while a crew member remained in Butuan City after he left the vessel to return to his hometown, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online briefing.

“[Our] regional office has given us the report already that they are now isolated in their vessel. They are being monitored by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG),” she said, adding that only authorized persons are allowed to enter the vessel.

“If ever somebody [becomes] symptomatic, they will be immediately transported to a nearby hospital.”

She also said the close contacts and the family of the crew member who disembarked in Butuan are under quarantine.

The PCG earlier said the vessels—the towing vessel, MT Clyde, which is towing the barge Claudia—came from Indonesia and docked at a port in Butuan on July 14, where the crew members got tested for COVID-19.

Vergeire said the vessels arrived in Albay on Tuesday morning. — DVM, GMA News