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China voices concern as 29 Filipino seafarers test positive for coronavirus

A total of 29 Filipino seafarers have tested positive for coronavirus after arriving in China to board their ships, according to a report carried in the Manila Bulletin, the Philippines’ largest English language broadsheet newspaper.

According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the Chinese embassy in Manila informed the organisation that the crewmembers had tested positive for coronavirus in China despite testing negative prior to their arrival. The embassy expressed concerns over the integrity of coronavirus tests being conducted in the Philippines, something that has been under the spotlight in recent weeks with a number of similar cases occurring on ships heading from Manila to Australia.

There is no issue over integrity because the testing facilities accredited by the Department of Health don’t fabricate results

“I assured them there is no issue over integrity because the testing facilities accredited by the Department of Health don’t fabricate results,” said POEA administrator Bernard Olalia.

Olalia said they will continue to work with their Chinese counterparts to avoid similar incidents in the future.

China opened up 10 ports for crew changes earlier this month as the country eases entry restrictions for foreigners.

The Philippines is working on a blockchain health certificate solution to try and alleviate concerns other countries have about Manila’s current Covid-19 testing practices.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.

Comments

  1. Even with the most reliable RT-PCR test there is a likely time lag of several days between becoming infected and this showing up as positive on a test, as the test needs a certain viral load to react, so depending on the interval between time of infection and any initial test in the Philippines and then in China it is possible that even with a properly administered test before departure a seafarer might show a negative result but show positive just a few days later on.

    I don’t exclude other explanations.

    1. This is a possibility. As Filipinos are happy people who loves to celebrate. Probably after they’ve tested negative, went drinking before the trip without any precaution, not realizing that they could get exposed. So when they arrived in their destination, they got positive instead. We are still in a pandemic, even though the economy is slowly opening its doors, people should still be cautious about things.

    2. But did they really use RT-PCR? A lot of people with clout in the IATF and DOH have been trying so hard to push antigen-based and even antibody-based tests.

  2. “I assured them there is no issue over integrity because the testing facilities accredited by the Department of Health don’t fabricate results,” said POEA administrator Bernard Olalia.

    I’m sorry but did she really say that! Implausible deniability springs to mind….

  3. Chinese opportunityism: Chinese sailors are worse than Filipinos, but if Filipinos cannot enter China then Chinese sailors will take their place.

  4. IG, tht only Fiiipino are excited and go to celebrate, ” without relizing any precautions” as you said ,is it not judgementlal nor careless words? Filipinos are careful when they know they have tasks to do, for your information.

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