Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3) – A total of 248 Filipino seafarers evacuated from a virus-hit cruise ship in Miami, Florida are now in the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
The DFA said the plane carrying crew members of MSC Divina landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at 6 a.m. The flight was chartered by the cruise ship’s manning agency, MSC Cruises.
The department assured that mandatory medical procedures were conducted on the repatriates before they were brought to a quarantine facility.
It added that more evacuation flights are scheduled on Friday.
On Thursday, the DFA said over 1,000 Filipino seafarers from Spain and Miami, Florida had been flown home despite flight cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, three chartered flights carrying Filipino crew members from the U.S. and Brazil were the first to arrive this week.
DFA Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. earlier said some 4,000 Filipino crew members are expected to be repatriated in the next three weeks.
Under the country’s current travel restrictions, Filipinos stranded abroad shall be allowed to go home but subject to quarantine procedures.
