MANILA, Philippines — A group of 370 Filipino crew members from three cruise ships docked in Italy were repatriated over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said as it prepared to bring home over 4,000 others over the next three weeks.
The group consisted of 248 Filipinos from MV Costa Luminosa in Milan and 122 others from MV Grandiosa and MV Opera docked in Rome.
All the 370 were found to be asymptomatic of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) before arriving in Manila on Saturday evening and will undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine, the DFA said.
Assistant Foreign Secretary Eduardo Meñez said 13 other Filipinos were brought home from Spain last week as part of the DFA’s continuing repatriation operations.
—Dona Pazzibugan