Grand Princess cruise ship. Photo: Xinhua

A total of 444 Filipinos aboard the coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess cruise ship docked in Oakland Port in California in the United States entered a 14-day quarantine at a facility north of Manila after they were flown back to the Philippines before dawn on Monday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) chartered a plane to bring home the 438 crew members and six passengers from the ship from San Francisco, California. The plane touched down at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga province, north of Manila around 2:15 a.m. local time on Monday.

Upon disembarkation from the ship, the DFA said the repatriates all underwent health screening by the US Department of Health and Human Services which included thermal scanning and other diagnostics to test if they had symptoms of COVID-19.

"As a matter of protocol, only those who were asymptomatic were allowed to board the buses that transferred them to San Francisco International Airport," the DFA said in a statement.

After landing, the DFA said all repatriates were immediately transported on chartered buses to the Athletes' Village in New Clark City, for the 14-day quarantine period under the full medical attention of health professionals from the Department of Health (DOH).

The DFA said a total of 78 Filipino crew members volunteered to remain onboard to be part of the essential manning of the ship.

Meanwhile, DFA said the 13 Filipino crew members who tested positive for COVID-19 stayed in the United States and were brought to a care facility for treatment.