PH aids Covid-19 stricken ship crew with ‘travel history’ that includes India
THE Department of Health (DoH), through the Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ), has provided immediate medical aid to crewmembers of cargo ship M/V Athens Bridge, which sought refuge in the country after it was denied entry in different countries, having had a “travel history” that included India.
The ship has 21 Filipinos on board, 12 of whom tested positive for the virus. Two of the crewmembers experienced difficulty in breathing.
The crewmembers were tested in Vietnam but the ship was refused entry that was why it proceeded directly to the Philippines.
“They were coordinating with us and appealing na ipadaong yung barko dahil kailangan ng tulong ang dalawang member, so they were allowed to dock and yun pong dalawang severe, inextract po natin at pinadala sa ospital (to allow the ship to dock because two of their [crew]members needed help, so they were allowed to dock and those with severe symptoms were extracted and sent to the hospital) through the Bureau of Quarantine, ” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a media briefing.
She added that BoQ personnel, upon checking the rest of the crew members, decided to move them to a quarantine facility.
Vergeire said that all crewmembers will be tested and will be genome-sequenced to see if they were infected with any Covid variant, including the B1617 from India.