MANILA – The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) is hoping to finish the swab test for 7,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) now on mandatory quarantine for 14 days for Covid-19 within the week.
“They were able to swab 2,000 yesterday. Hopefully this week we will be able to finish swabbing all of them,” Owwa Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac.
Cacdac said based on the information he received from the Philippine Coast Guard, the quarantine facility in Batangas was able to swab 2,000 OFWs on Tuesday.
The move seeks to decongest quarantine facilities for the bigger batch of returning Filipino workers.
“If they tested negative, we will facilitate their transportation to decongest the quarantine facilities,” Cacdac added.
Cacdac said they are expecting over 40,000 OFWs, the majority of whom are from the Middle East, to return to the country in the coming days.
“Sea-based workers are 25,000 and maybe around 20,000 for the land-based, Just what I’ve said, (that is) over 40,000. That might even be a conservative estimate. We have not counted the medium up to long term,” the OWWA head said.
Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said government is lacking quarantine rooms for returning OFWs.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the temporary suspension of all international flights to and from the Philippines until 11:59 of May 8.
The flight restrictions is to allow time to decongest quarantine facilities and to ensure that OFWs are well taken care of when they arrive from abroad.
Flights which will continue to be allowed include official, emergency, cargo ambulance and medical supply, weather mitigation, maintenance flights, and international flights for stranded foreign nationals, Roque said.
“Lahat po ng Pilipino pagdating sa airport, kinakailangan mag PCR test. Habang inaantay po yung resulta ng PCR test, kinakailangan po manatili sa facility quarantine (All Filipinos, when they arrive at the airport have to undergo Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests. While waiting for their results, they need to stay in quarantine facilities),” Roque said.
He also assured that the Owwa will shoulder quarantine costs.
After testing negative, the OFWs will be allowed to return home and undergo another 14-day quarantine in their respective households, he added. (with reports from PNA)
