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Kin of Diamond Princess crew worry about relatives' health, meet local agency
Relatives of Filipino crew members of the COVID-19-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan on Saturday said they were worried about their kins' health as they met in Cebu with the local agency which hired them.
Genie Boy Valiao, whose father is aboard the ship, told GMA News he cannot help but be anxious after it was confirmed that some crew members and passengers tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Valiao said it is possible that the virus may still be passed on to those aboard the ship.
Other families expressed the same concern, especially since the crew members still continued on with their jobs aboard the cruise ship.
A Filipino crew member aboard the Diamond Princess earlier said the possible spread of COVID-19 among the people onboard the cruise ship has brought anguish.
Operations inside the ship continued while it was under quarantine in Japan.
"Eh, hindi nga namin alam nasaan 'yung virus. Dapat nga, eh, hindi na kami nagtratrabaho. Dapat nagpapahinga na kami," Roger, not his real name, said.
The crew members' relatives trooped early to the office of Magsaysay Maritime Corporation in Cebu City on Saturday to meet with its officials.
They said among the questions they wanted to ask was about the salaries of their relatives.
The relatives met with the agency officials for more than three hours on Saturday morning.
However, after the meeting, most of the relatives refused to answer questions from the media.
Lyn Rayos, one of the relatives, said the meeting went well. She said they were assured that everything is okay.
Another relative said the meeting took so long due to the slow Internet connection.
Meanwhile, in Manila, Norma Fajardo, whose daughter is part of the Diamond Princess security team, said the crew have been well treated and cared for, but she is worried her work makes her particularly vulnerable to the virus.
"We couldn't do anything because she works in security so she has to monitor passengers," Fajardo told Agence France-Presse.
"We're worried. She could get infected anytime," she added.
Fajardo said crew who get sick are allowed to rest, but those without symptoms were encouraged to continue working.
Esther Rivera — whose son is a ship photographer — has urged the Philippine government to bring them home.
"I hope they get pulled out from the ship because they are infecting each other there," Rivera said.
Once flown home, the repatriated Filipinos will be quarantined for two weeks at the New Clark City, a facility previously used to house athletes in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Japan has faced mounting criticism for its quarantine arrangements as passengers disperse across the world.
The cruise ship was quarantined on February 5 after a passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus. Many crew however were not isolated because they were needed to keep the vessel running.
Some were preparing food and delivering meals to cabins, leading some critics to charge they were inadvertently spreading the virus throughout the boat.
Princess Cruises President Jan Swartz has written a letter to the crew, saying the firm was "deeply grateful and incredibly proud of all of you."
Meanwhile, the number of Filipinos aboard the Diamond Princess who were confirmed to be positive for COVID-19 has risen to 49, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay announced on Saturday.
The Department of Health on Saturday said the scheduled repatriation on Sunday of almost 500 Filipinos aboard the ship will be postponed.
This is because testing on the Filipinos on the ship is not yet finished. —Charlie Hera/with a report from Agence France-Presse/KG, GMA News
