Deportees from Malaysia quarantined in Basilan "COVID-19 free"
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 17:45 PM Tue Apr 7, 2020
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By:
John M. Unson
Photo: The 120 "COVID-19 free" have been allowed to leave Sibakil Island. (Contributed)
COTABATO CITY ---- Health officials declared clear from coronavirus infection all 120 Filipino seafarers from Malaysia quarantined for more than two weeks in Basilan.
They were intercepted last month while on a small boat en route to Zamboanga City and were immediately brought by the Maritime Police-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and members of the Basilan disaster risk reduction and management council in Sibakil Island for health examination and subsequent quarantine.
Basilan Gov. Jim Salliman said Tuesday government physicians have confirmed that all 120 persons are healthy and free from COVID-19 infection following their quarantine for more than two weeks in Sibakil Island.
They were each given a medical clearance over the weekend by a team of doctors and nurses, among them personnel of the provincial health office, who stayed with them while confined in Sibakil Island near Lantawan, Basilan.
“The provincial government has done its role in providing them health care while in Sibakil Island for the mandatory quarantine,” Salliman said.
Salliman said he is thankful to the Maritime Police-BAR under Col. Jacob Macabali whose subordinates in Basilan helped in extending quarantine and boat rides to the 120 stranded Filipinos, 20 of them Tausugs from Sulu province.
Besides the Basilan-based personnel of the Maritime Police-BAR led by Staff Sergeant Leogine Ebrahim, the Lantawan municipal police force also assisted in the quarantine process, according to Salliman.
“We are grateful to all those who played special roles in the handling of these people while under quarantine. Credit also has to go to the local government unit of Lantawan,” Salliman said.
The Maritime-Police-BAR immediately facilitated the return of the 120 Filipinos to their hometowns in Basilan and in the Zamboanga peninsula after having been issued health clearances.