DFA monitoring Pinoys onboard cruise vessel
MANILA — The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco continues to monitor the situation of Filipinos onboard the MV Grand Princess cruise ship docked off the coast of California.
As of posting time, the Philippine Embassy in Washington and the consulate have yet to confirm reports that six Filipino crew members were among those who tested positive for the disease.
“We have got in touch with some Filipinos in the ship to check on their health and overall condition. Thus far, they seemed to be doing generally fine. They expressed appreciation for the Consulate’s effort to reach out to them,” the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco said in a statement on Sunday night.
The consulate has recharged
quested the United States government, through the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions in San Francisco, to distribute flyers for Filipinos onboard the ship hit with Covid-19 to enable them to get in touch with the consulate.
“We will continue to monitor the situation as we establish contact with the rest of the Filipinos on board and we have been coordinating with Manila and other relevant US authorities in the steps forward,” it added.
The Princess Cruises earlier confirmed that the results from the first phase of health screenings of 45 guests and crew on board the ship, 21 people contracted the disease which includes two guests and 19 crew.
The Grand Princess cruise ship is expected to proceed to the Port of Oakland on Monday to begin disembarking guests who require acute medical treatment and hospitalization. These guests will be transported to medical facilities in California.
“Disembarkation will continue Monday for other guests. According to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, following health screenings, guests who are California residents will go to a federally operated facility within California for testing and isolation, while non-Californians will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states. The crew will be quarantined and treated aboard the ship,” the cruise line said in an update