(Eagle News) – At least 444 Filipinos from the MV Grand Princess cruise ship have been brought home and are now sent to the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac for the required 14-day quarantine period.
The repatriated Filipinos – 438 crew members and six passengers of the cruise ship – arrived at the Haribon Hangar in Clark Airbase, Pampanga, at around 2:15 a.m. on Monday, March 16. They were brought to the country through a chartered flight from San Francisco International Airport.
The Department of Foreign Affairs which facilitated the repatriation said that this was done through the efforts of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco in coordination with the Carnival Corporation, the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions, and the California Governor’s Office.
“After landing, all repatriates were safely and immediately transported on chartered buses to the Athletes’ Village in New Clark City for the 14-day quarantine period under the full medical attention of health professionals from the Department of Health (DOH),” the DFA said in a statement.
Philippine Consul General in San Franciso Henry Bensurto, Jr. and his team monitored preparations for disembarkation at Oakland Port which started around noon of March 14 (Pacific Time).
All the Filipinos underwent health screening by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services upon disembarkation from the ship. The screening included “thermal scanning and other diagnostics to test if they had symptoms of COVID-19,” the DFA said.
“As a matter of protocol, only those who were asymptomatic were allowed to board the buses that transferred them to San Francisco International Airport,” it said.
The plane left San Francisco at around 9 p.m. March 14, Pacific time.
As to the other Filipinos in the virus-hit MV Grand Princess, the DFA said that 78 Filipino crew members volunteered to stay onboard the cruise ship to be part of its essential manning.
“Meanwhile, the 13 Filipino crew members who tested positive for COVID-19 stayed in the US and were brought to a care facility for treatment,” the DFA said.
“The other three Filipino guests disembarked and stayed in the US as they are California residents,” it said.
The group of Filipino repatriates from the MV Grand Princess represented the third batch of repatriates that the DFA brought home from COVID-19 affected areas.
The first group were those from virus-hit Wuhan City in China numbering around 30, while the second batch were the 445 Filipinos from the MV Diamond Princess docked in Japan.
These groups have finished the quarantine process and were already released from the New Clark City, except for three from the MV Diamond Princess. These are the two Filipinos who tested positive for the virus just before the end of the quarantine period, and another Filipino under monitoring for the virus and had to undergo quarantine anew for being in close contact with the confirmed cases.
