Ship barred from docking in Dumaguete after some crewmen found with coronavirus antibodies

DUMAGUETE CITY—Authorities here on Monday (June 22) barred a vessel from docking at the city port after some of its crew members tested positive for coronavirus antibodies.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) also banned the ship from unloading its passengers.

Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Remollo, the city’s IATF chair, ordered the vessel, which came from Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte, to return to its port of origin so its entire crew can be subjected to more substantive coronavirus tests.

The crew went through rapid tests here which could yield results in minutes but would only show if the test subjects had antibodies for coronavirus, which may be inconclusive in determining if they were sick of COVID-19.

Remollo said the vessel should return to Dipolog to put its crew on quarantine.

Authorities in the city were also monitoring 282 persons, most of whom were overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and individuals being repatriated to Negros Oriental province.

As of Tuesday (June 23) Dumaguete City has two COVID-19 patients—a 48-year-old man who had travelled to virus hot spot Cebu and his 33-year-old girlfriend.

Both had shown symptoms of the disease. The man is confined in a private hospital while his girlfriend is on home quarantine.

TSB