Filipinos aboard quarantined cruise ship to return home on Feb. 25 — Locsin

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos on board the coronavirus disease-stricken cruise ship Diamond Princess quarantined off Yokohama, Japan are set to return home on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announced this on Sunday in a Twitter post after Japan apologized for allowing 23 passengers to leave the cruise ship without being properly tested.

READ: Japan says 23 passengers mistakenly left virus ship before testing

He said that Japan has offered to “host the Filipino crew before their repatriation for testing,” and those who were found positive of the virus have been hospitalized.

All Filipinos have already been tested but the complete results have yet to be released, Locsin added.

“So far 25 Feb is repatriation day,” he said.

This may be why Japan offered to host the Filipino crew before their repatriation for testing (completed but not all the results are in). Those found positive have been hospitalised. We accepted with deep gratitude. Thank you Japan. So far 25 Feb is repatriation day. https://t.co/sM1xb4B5w9

— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) February 23, 2020

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier said 49 Filipinos aboard the ship have so far tested positive for coronavirus disease.

READ: DFA: 49 Filipinos aboard Diamond Princess test positive for COVID-19

According to a report of Agence-France Press on Sunday, a Japanese woman who left the cruise ship tested positive for the virus after returning home to Tochigi Prefecture.

She is the first person to have tested positive for the virus among the group of approximately 970 passengers who disembarked earlier this week, it said.