More than 120 Filipino seafarers from virus-hit Spain return home; Another crew member with COVID-19 evacuated off cruise ship as 93,000 crew remain at sea

More than 120 Filipino seafarers from virus-hit Spain return home
Apr 03 2020 https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/03/20/more-than-120-filipino-seafar...

More than 120 Filipinos seafarers from ships docked in virus-stricken Spain have returned home. Department of Foreign Affairs handout photo
MANILA - More than 120 Filipinos seafarers from ships docked in virus-stricken Spain returned home Thursday, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The DFA said in a statement that a total of 123 Filipino sailors from ships Marella Celebration and MV World Odyssey arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, following hundreds of other repatriated Filipino crew members.

The department said they were assisted by the Philippine Embassy in Madrid, in coordination with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and local agencies.

The 123 seafarers will undergo a mandatory 2-week quarantine to avoid any possible infection of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). They will be monitored by the Department of Health and the Bureau of Quarantine, the DFA said.

More than 900 Filipino crew from cruise ships docked in Italy and the United States earlier returned home and went under quarantine to avoid possible contamination of the novel coronavirus, which has been wreaking havoc across the world since its first emergence in China.

Another crew member with COVID-19 evacuated off cruise ship as 93,000 crew remain at sea
Alex Harris April 04, 2020 https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article241776496.html

A sick crew member was evacuated off the Celebrity Infinity cruise ship Saturday, one of several medical evacuations off cruise ships this week.

Royal Caribbean, which owns the ship, confirmed the evacuation. The Coast Guard, which helped with the evacuation from the ship, said the patient had COVID-19. The medical evacuation was recommended by a Coast Guard flight surgeon.

“We are working closely with our federal, state and local partners to support efforts to prevent and protect mariners and crew. No seafarer will be left untreated during this emergency to the best of our collective ability,” Coast Guard Spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Jason Neiman said in a statement.

The Celebrity Infinity is off Florida’s west coast.

On Thursday, a dead crew member was removed from the Celebrity Infinity and two more were medically evacuated from the Oasis of the Seas. Both ships are owned by Miami-based Royal Caribbean.

The Coast Guard released a memo earlier this week warning ships that the U.S. medical system could be overwhelmed by the high number of sick people still aboard cruise ships and asked ships to prepare supplied to keep ill people on board “for an indefinite period.”