Of the 38 Filipino labourers on board cruise ship MV Hondius, 24 are bound soon for the Netherlands. The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) announced this news on Sunday.
The 24 Filipinos are hotel staff on the vessel, DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac said. Four left the same day and the others on Monday. “They will begin a quarantine period of about six weeks in the Netherlands,” Cacdac said.
The remaining 14 Filipino crew members are working on the ship’s deck and engine departments. They will remain aboard when the vessel sails for Rotterdam, Netherlands. The vessel is presently moored in Tenerife, Spain.
The 14 personnel will also begin their six-week quarantine when the ship arrives in Rotterdam.
All 38 Filipinos will be repatriated to the Philippines after they conclude their quarantine in the Netherlands.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa explained the need for the protracted isolation. It can take as long as 45 days following exposure to hantavirus for symptoms to manifest, he said.
“It’s not needed,” Herbosa responded when asked if the Filipino crew would need to be tested again once they get back to the Philippines.
He also reassured the public that hantavirus will not trigger a COVID-19 similar epidemic. Hantavirus does not travel quickly between people like COVID-19 does.
