244 Costa Luminosa seafarers repatriated

MAGSAYSAY Maritime Corp. (MMC) said the 244 Filipino crew members of CostaLuminosa and the six Filipino tourists arrived safe in the country from Italy over the weekend.

The MMC, in coordination with Costa Cruises said none of the repatriated crew members of the CostaLuminosa tested positive to coronavirus disease 2019.

But they were undergoing a 14-day quarantine at an undisclosed facility under the supervision of the Department of Health (DoH) medical team.

Magsaysay said the company has valued the privacy and confidentiality of the identities of crewmembers and their families. Magsaysay, together with Costa Cruises continue to closely coordinate with the Department of Labor and Employment, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Department of Foreign Affairs, DoH, and other Inter-Agency Task Force agencies.

Magsaysay was in constant communication with the families of repatriated crewmembers, and has updated them of the developments and status of their loved ones.

In addition to pre-flight screening for symptoms, the DOH officials at the airport conducted health checks to all repatriated crew members prior to boarding the buses going to a designated quarantine facility.

Costa Cruises ships, as a precautionary measure conduct screening of temperature of all guests, visitors, and crew members and check for any flu-like symptoms. As part of its health protocol, crew members occupy guest cabins, at one crewmember per cabin. All crewmembers were provided with food and were treated well.

If, any of the crew members would be tested positive, he would be medically disembarked and brought to a hospital for further treatment and medical care.

Any crew member who have had close contact with a crew member or guest who tested positive were also brought to a hotel in Italy for quarantine with medical support for observation. Fortunately, none of the Filipino crew members tested positive of the virus.