DFA repatriates 400 Filipinos in virus-hit ship in Japan

February 25, 2020 admin news

Credit to Author: THE MANILA TIMES| Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:27:15 +0000

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will repatriate on Tuesday, January 25, over 400 Filipinos aboard a cruise ship hit by coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) docked in Japan.

Those to be flown home are mostly crew members of Diamond Princess. At least 52 Filipinos onboard the ship tested positive for Covid-19 and were being treated at various hospitals.

“This morning, the DFA carried out the directive of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin to bring our people in the Diamond Princess cruise ship back home,” said Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meñez.

Taxis are parked dockside near the Diamond Princess cruise ship in quarantine due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, seen through a fence at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama on February 19, 2020. Several hundred passengers who have endured a torrid 14-day quarantine aboard a coronavirus-riddled cruise ship in Japan are set to disembark February 19 — if they have tested negative. / AFP / CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

“The first of two flights to get our kababayans back is now ready to leave for Japan,” Meñez said.

He earlier said that “Filipinos who are in hospital for treatment will be repatriated as soon as the hospitals grant them medical clearance.”

Officials from the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and Department of Health are now at Yokohama Port ready to lead the disembarkation of the Filipinos.

Bernadette E. Tamayo

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