DFA: 370 Pinoy crew arrive from Italy as COVID-19 hits more cruise ships

Some 370 Filipino sailors from three cruise liners docked in Italy arrived in the Philippines Saturday evening as coronavirus infections threaten various ships across the world.

The group of repatriates is composed of 248 Filipinos from MV Costa Luminosa from Milan, and a combined number of 122 Filipinos from MV Grandiosa and MV Opera docked in Rome, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Sunday.

They arrived via chartered flights organized by the Philippine government.

"All the 370 Filipinos underwent medical checkup and were found to be asymptomatic before they boarded the chartered airline that brought them to Manila," the DFA said in a statement.

They will also undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine at a still unknown location that will be supervised by the Bureau of Quarantine, it added.

Repatriation of Filipino crew on cruise ships has been ongoing since last month when a ship from Japan was infected by the virus that was first detected in Wuhan, China.

A small batch of 13 from Spain arrived in the country a few days ago and several more repatriations are expected in the coming weeks, said Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Ed Meñez.

"The DFA coordinates with the manning agencies, the crew and foreign authorities to quickly repatriate once there is a quarantine area identified and checked by the responsible agencies here," Meñez said.

"It is also important to note that the DFA is continuously working on sending our kababayan home - not just those on cruise ships," he added. — RSJ, GMA News