MANILA, Philippines — The Russian Embassy has expressed gratitude to the Philippine government for allowing the transport of a sick Russian ship captain to a hospital in Metro Manila despite the Luzon-wide lockdown.
In a statement on Thursday (April 9), the Russian Embassy said Captain Alexander Solodyannikov, of the tanker Asphalt Transporter, is now safe after suffering an “attack of an unknown respiratory syndrome.”
The Russian, whose ship was on its way to Australia, was successfully transported to the city of Mati, Davao Oriental province then to a hospital in Metro Manila.
“The government of the Philippines responded to the embassy’s request very quickly despite the lockdown and the quarantine measures and allowed the captain to be taken off the ship to a medical center in Metro Manila,” the embassy said in the statement.
“Things were not looking good for some time, but now Capt. Solodyannikov is safe,” the embassy said.
“On behalf of his family and ourselves we thank our dear friends from the Philippines for helping us save a life!” it added.
Luzon, home to about half the Philippines’ total population, has been placed on enhanced community quarantine to curb the spread of COVID-19 which has already infected 4,076 people nationwide. The measure suspended work for majority of the region’s people and halted operations of public transport.
As of Thursday, 203 have died of the respiratory disease in the country while 124 had recovered.