(Eagle News)–The Department of Health on Saturday, Feb. 22, said the repatriation of Filipinos on board the Diamond Princess may be delayed.
In an interview over GMA News TV, Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said this was based on a report from the Philippine embassy in Japan that only half of the crew members and some passengers had completed the tests for the novel coronavirus.
There are 538 Filipinos on board the ship that was quarantined off Yokohama after one of its passengers who joined a bus tour in Kyushu tested positive for COVID-19.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said of the 538, 497 said they wanted to return to the Philippines.
He said they were scheduled for repatriation on Sunday, and would be taken to the New Clark City in Tarlac for another 14-day quarantine.
“E ang isang condition natin is they have to be tested and they turn out negative bago natin sila iuwi,” Vergeire said.
She said the government was so far studying its options.
The Philippines has so far confirmed three COVID-19 cases.
