60 OFWs from New Zealand arrive in Manila on April 20, 2020. (Photo courtesy of the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs)
MANILA, Philippines—Another batch of repatriates, consisting of 60 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from New Zealand, returned home on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported.
The new batch of repatriates landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Monday night, according to a DFA release on Tuesday. They are set to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine set by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).
Over 1,500 Filipinos repatriated have been cleared to go home after showing no symptoms of COVID-19 during their mandatory quarantine, according to President Rodrigo Duterte’s fourth weekly report to Congress on the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
The number of Filipinos abroad with COVID-19 on Tuesday breached the 1,000-mark after 94 cases from the Americas, Europe and the Asia pacific were recorded, bringing the total to 1,084.
Of the number, 662 are currently undergoing treatment, 269 have recovered or have been discharged from hospitals, while 153 people have succumbed to the disease.
More than 18,000 Filipinos have been flown home since the DFA started the repatriation program for OFWs in February amid the COVID-19 pandemic.