At the frontline: Immigration officers want protection vs COVID-19, too

MANILA, Philippines — “There’s the fear of the unknown.”

Every day since Metro Manila has been put on community quarantine and eventually the whole of Luzon under enhanced community quarantine, this seemed to have somehow occupied the minds of some of the country’s frontliners.

And immigration officers are not an exemption.

For one, they feel the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic since they could not even ascertain the supply of masks for their protection.

Immigration officers are the first to deal with arriving passengers from different locations around the world at various airports in the country.

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic because it has already infected more than 244,500 people worldwide and killed more than 10,000, mostly in China, Italy, and Iran.

Bureau of Immigration (BI) spokesperson Dana Mengote-Sandoval admitted that they, too, are having a hard time sourcing face masks to protect their personnel.

“The Commissioner has already directed the procurement of essential supplies like masks and alcohol as well as ordered the disinfection of immigration areas [but] admittedly, we are finding it hard to source face masks as there is a nationwide shortage,” Sandoval told INQUIRER.net.

According to Sandoval, immigration officers are being provided protective supplies but as time passes, these supplies also dwindle — and this is where the struggle of sourcing the face masks comes into play.

“It’s a resource that gets depleted, madaming beses nagkakaubusan (there are times when we run out of supply),” Sandoval said.

“We have been receiving donations from several entities, but as with any frontline agency, we need more because we are first to interact with travelers from abroad that might be possible carriers,” she added.

Sandoval said their personnel sometimes just wear reusable cloth face masks that had earlier been deemed “ineffective” against the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which causes the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

Dr. Edsel Salvana, director of the UP National Institutes Of Health’s Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, earlier said cloth masks do not have filters like those found on surgical masks.

Those in the frontline of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic are even advised to wear N95 masks.

But with the demand for masks surging, Sandoval said: “Well, to be honest, there’s the fear of the unknown.”

“Being frontliners, we are one of the most at risk of being exposed to this virus. Mahirap ang kalabang hindi nakikita (It is hard to fight something that you cannot see).”

“But we are duty-bound to perform our mandate at the borders,” she also said.

Protocols in place

At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) alone, Sandoval said there are around 800 immigration personnel deployed during the enhanced community quarantine.

While it is the mandate of the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) to monitor passengers for possible symptoms of COVID-19, Sandoval said immigration officers could not avoid being in direct contact with them.

Sandoval said they are tasked to help the BOQ in ensuring that those with travel history from countries with travel restrictions are not allowed entry in the Philippines.

“We also provide information to the BOQ and the Department of Health (DOH), should they need it for contact tracing,” she noted.

So far, Sandoval said COVID-19 has not infected any immigration officers.

However, protocols remain in place within their workforce to ensure the protection of BI personnel.

“It’s part of our SOP (standard operating procedure) that the health of our officers be checked for symptoms of COVID-19 if they encountered a COVID-positive patient,” Sandoval said.

“We require our officers to go on quarantine, with regular health checks, should this happen. We have instituted procedures for that, and have a medical team on standby to conduct triage and ensure that officers that need testing are able to do so,” she added.

KGA