Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 6) — The Health Department is scouting for other options where Filipinos on board a docked cruise ship in the United States may be quarantined.
Health Assistant Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday told CNN Philippines preparations are underway for the possible repatriation of around 530 to 540 Filipino crew on board the MV Grand Princess, where one man died due to coronavirus.
“Definitely we are preparing other quarantine facilities,” she said.
The Filipinos previously brought home from China’s Wuhan province were quarantined in the New Clark City in Tarlac. Over 400 Filipino crew members from the Diamond Princess cruise ship are set to complete their 14-day quarantine on March 11 in the same facility.
Vergeire said there is no formal request of repatriation from the MV Grand Princess yet.
Coronavirus testing is underway for cruise ship passengers and crew aboard the vessel anchored in San Francisco, California, a passenger told CNN on Friday. Nearly 100 passengers have been identified as needing to be tested, including guests and staff.
Almost 3,500 — 2,383 passengers and 1,100 crew members — are quarantined inside the cruise ship after the vessel wasn’t allowed to dock anytime soon; the 15-day trip was scheduled to return to US on Saturday.
The Grand Princess previously carried a passenger who has become the first person to die from coronavirus in California. Its operator, Princess Cruises, said there is currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus on the ship.
This situation is compared with the case of the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was docked for 14 days in Japan after a few people were infected with coronavirus. More than 700 people on board became infected with coronavirus.
