43 repatriated OFWs arrive in Cebu

CEBU CITY, May 9 (PIA) -- The Inter-Agency Task Group on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases-Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (IATG-MEID-RDRRMC)-Central Visayas facilitated the arrival of 43 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Cebu from Manila on May 8, 2020.

The OFWs arrived at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) at around 12:00 noon yesterday via a Cebu Pacific sweeper flight. All of them are from Cebu Province.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA-7) has communicated to the local government units (LGUs) here to pick up their respective repatriated OFWs.

The OFWs are billeted in a hotel in Cebu City as they wait to be transported to their residences by their respective LGUs.

Upon arriving in Cebu, the OFWs were made to present a certificate signifying that they have completed their 14-day quarantine in Manila along with their negative test result of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), fit to travel certification from the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), and the letter of acceptance from the destination LGU.

According to Dr. Shelbay Blanco of the Department of Health (DOH-7), the OFWs will no longer undergo the 14-day quarantine here as they have presented their negative PCR test result.

“They can be endorsed to their respective LGUs, then the LGUs through their Barangay Health Response Team (BHERTs) will be the one to monitor them while they are at home,” said Blanco.

Marlou Salazar, Office of Civil Defense (OCD-7) Regional Director and Co-Chairperson of IATG-MEID-RDRRMC 7, said more OFWs are expected to arrive in Central Visayas.

“We are ready. We hope that the plan’s processes will be observed to provide the right actions in a given situation,” said Salazar.

The member agencies of the IATG-MEID-RDRRMC-7 continue to provide support and assistance to stranded OFWs who wish to come home to Central Visayas.

The repatriated OFWs arriving in Central Visayas were displaced by the pandemic and have been stranded in Manila due to the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). (poc/PIA7)

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