By Argyll Geducos The Department of Health (DOH) said despite completing the quarantine period aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, the Filipinos who will be repatriated from Yokohama, Japan will still have to undergo the two-week quarantine period once they arrive in the country. DOH Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made the statement as the government works on the details to repatriate some 400 Filipinos abroad the ship. Diamond Princess cruise ship (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) In a press briefing in Malacañang, Vergeire said the Filipinos who will be brought to the country would have to undergo another two weeks of quarantine because they are not sure for how long or how often they were exposed to patients on the ship who were positive for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). "They have said that some of these crew members were allowed to do the functions like serving food, bringing these different provisions for the other passengers. The assumption now is all of them were exposed," she said Monday. "That's why we're treating this as a very, very critical matter. That's why when they get here, even though they already their 14-day quarantine aboard the ship in Japan, we are going to have also the 14-day quarantine here in the Philippines," she added. It was confirmed early Monday that the number of Filipinos who tested positive for the COVID-19 aboard the cruise ship has risen to 59. Of its 3,700 passengers and crew, 600 of them were reported to have been infected by the disease. According to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, the Japanese government has ensured that any affected Filipino is provided proper medical treatment and care in their hospitals and health facilities. "Our government is working closely with Japanese health and foreign ministry officials to complete the quarantine protocols and repatriate our Filipino crew members and passengers as soon as possible," he said. In the same press briefing, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ed Meñez said the Filipinos from the cruise ship will be repatriated Tuesday (Feb. 25). He said the test results of all Filipino crew members aboard the ship will also be released the same day. Repatriation Nograles said the government has tightened its repatriation protocols to ensure that the repatriates will undergo constant health screening and infection prevention at every juncture of the trip, from pre-boarding, onboard journey, and disembarkation, up to their 14-day quarantine in Athlete’s Village in New Clark City, Capas, Tarlac. Leading up to the end of the 14-day quarantine period on Feb. 19, the DFA, through the Philippine Embassy, has been in close coordination with the Japanese government and the management of Diamond Princess Cruises on the details, logistics, and schedule of the repatriation of its Filipino crew and passengers. Meñez explained that the Filipinos who will be repatriated will be going from Yokohama Port to Haneda Airport where they will be taking off going to Clark, Pampanga. Two DFA officials and nine medical officials from DOH will be assisting the repatriates. He added that Embassy officials who will be assisting the repatriates will be provided with their own protective equipment. Meanwhile, Meñez explained that the government was not able to repatriate the Filipinos sooner because the COVID-19 results of all Filipinos aboard the ship will only be released on Tuesday. Some will stay Meñez said that some 100 Filipino crew members have expressed their willingness to stay on the Diamond Princess ship should it be required by their employer. However, he said that as the situation developed, the Princess Cruises will now be determining who are essential members. Those who are not will be relieved from their duties and will have to join the repatriation to the Philippines. Still at Athlete's Village Meanwhile, Vergeire said the repatriates will undergo quarantine at the Athlete's Village despite requests from the local government to find another facility. "With that request coming from our local government official, we deemed it wise not to accede to that request because it is not really rational at this point," she said. "We are going to bring home persons or our kababayans coming from a ship which is highly infected. So distributing our kababayans into different sites or facilities would increase the risk of possible transmission of the disease," she added.