DOH: 22 recovered Filipinos from Diamond Princess to be repatriated

The DOH announced on Monday that 22 Filipinos who recovered from COVID-19 while aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan will be repatriated.

Out of the initial 80 infected Filipinos, 32 have now recovered; 10 were already repatriated earlier this week.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III reported on Monday that the last three symptomatic repatriates tested negative for COVID-19, joining ten others who previously tested negative.

As of Sunday, the number of Filipinos showing symptoms after being repatriated increased to 13; however, initial tests showed that the first 10 were negative and results are pending for the additional three.

Three more individuals from the ship have been categorized as patients under investigation (PUIs) due to respiratory illness symptoms, with two testing negative initially while others await test results.