MANILA, Philippines — It has been weeks since Linda* and her over 800 crew mates—some 300 of whom are Filipinos—set sail for the Philippines and eventually loitered in Manila Bay for a chance to dock.
On Monday, April 20, their cruise ship, owned by an Australian shipping line, was finally allowed to lay anchor. But the ship and others also waiting for instructions remain in limbo over changing quarantine protocols.
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As things stand, Linda and the others are looking at a further 14-day quarantine.
Last week, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases said "foreign cruise ships carrying Filipino crew shall be allowed to dock in ports in Manila," a decision that has taken time for maritime authorities to implement.
The ships may be used as a quarantine facility for the Filipino crew members, subject to guidelines issued by the Sub-Task Group for the Repatriation of Overseas Filipino Workers.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said on April 16 that returning OFWs, “whether sea-based or land-based” must go through a 14-day facility quarantine upon arrival in the Philippines.
Sea travel counted as quarantine?
But on Friday, April 17, the Philippine Coast Guard said sea travel may be counted as already being quarantined “provided that nobody visited their ship or nobody recently joined their voyage the past 14 days.”
PCG Communications Officer Joy Gumatay, citing information from the task force, said the ship master must communicate this with the PCG.
Commodore Armando Balilo, PCG spokesperson, told Philstar.com in a separate message Saturday that the Bureau of Quarantine “will board the ship once it is inside Philippine territory” as part of health protocols.
“BOQ will determine if their stay onboard ship inside [Philippine] territory is compliance already with the 14-day quarantine requirement,” he added.
Linda’s luxury cruise ship has been floating in Philippine waters for weeks now. They have not had a guest onboard since March.
She told Philstar.com that since sailing out of Australian waters, they have been practicing social distancing and checking their temperature twice daily.
“We don’t have a single case here,” she said.
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Quarantine started on Monday
Linda said that on Monday, April 20, she and her shipmates were told to remain inside their cabins, which are single occupancy to minimize contact.
“We are brought food three times a day,” she said, adding that this will go on for 14 days.
On Tuesday morning, their ship was finally allowed to drop its anchor.
Linda said they had initially been told to transfer to government-designated quarantine ships but that her company had opted to have them stay on their own ship.
Balilo also told Philstar.com in a message sent through Gumatay that the quarantine of returning workers “must be under our supervision to be considered” as quarantine, a notable change from last Friday when he said sea travel may be considered quarantine period.
Linda said in a previous interview that there had been an initial agreement between the comoany she works for and the Philippine government to have the ship's doctor certify them as healthy, and, if cleared again by the Department of Health, they would only have to go on home quarantine.
The added 14-day quarantine for Linda's ship, on top of the weeks already floating on water, also means pushing back their Indonesian shipmates' schedule for going home.
Linda said their ship is supposed to sail to Indonesia to bring other members of the crew home after dropping the Filipinos off in Manila.
Balilo also said Tuesday there is still no schedule for cruise ships to dock for the week but said he would give an update once clearance from the Bureau of Quarantine is issued.
*The Filipina crew member requested anonymity, citing company policy