Gargantuan COVID-19 task for PCG: 21 cruise ships, thousands of Filipino seafarers

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is bracing for the arrival at the port of Manila of at least 21 cruise ships carrying thousands of Filipino seafarers.

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At least 10 of the ships are already docked at Manila Bay, according to Commodore Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson, in an interview with CNN Philippines.

Once already at the port of Manila, these ships would disgorge thousands of Filipino crew members who had been stuck in the vessels as countries around the world went on varying degrees of lockdowns against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Balilo, however, said quarantine protocol would surely be in place for the returning Filipinos.

“More ships will be coming in the next days, and we are preparing for that,” said Balilo. “We are doing our best to implement health protocols,” he said in Filipino.

The 10 foreign cruise ships docked at Manila Bay are carrying an estimated 2,500 Filipinos, who would be made to go on quarantine upon disembarkation.

“When the seaman disembarks, just to be sure, there would be regulation that they have to observe mandatory quarantine,” Balilo said. The seafarers, he said, would be brought to quarantine facilities like converted hotels.

If any passenger on the ship showed COVID-19 symptoms before disembarking, he or she would be brought directly to a hospital, the PCG spokesperson added.

The PCG, with the help of the Department of Transportation and other agencies, would also help the seafarers return to their hometowns in the provinces.

Edited by TSB