More than 120 Filipino seafarers from virus-hit Spain return home

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.