TAGBILARAN CITY — At least 48 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who arrived in Bohol tested negative for the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which causes respiratory illness COVID-19.
In a video uploaded on his official Facebook account on Friday night, Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap said 25 of the OFWs were already transferred to another quarantine facility.
One OFW had complained of a poor quality facility in Tagbilaran City.
Following their arrival on April 28, he posted on Facebook that the quarantine facility where they were housed was under renovation and that the room was untidy.
He said five persons had to share a room that he called a “piggery.” The social distancing measure, he added, was also not observed.
The post went viral on social media before it was deleted three hours later. On April 29, the OFW issued a public apology.
A source, who requested anonymity, said 50 rooms were reserved as “isolation rooms.” One room was given for each OFW.
Since there were no resort workers on duty, only the occupants cleaned their rooms.
The vicinity of the quarantine facility has been heavily guarded to prevent visitors and families from visiting the place.
The arrival of these returning OFWs created fear among Boholanos after 14 OFWs who arrived from Cebu tested positive for the virus.
The 48 Boholanos were in the same boat with the 14 OFWs from Cebu who were allowed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to travel back to their hometowns via “mercy voyages.”
Yap said the provincial government had only 48 hours to “react and prepare” for the returning Boholanos.
Unlike President Rodrigo Duterte, Yap said he has no power to force hotels in Bohol to accommodate these returning OFWs.
In case there will be COVID-19 infections in Bohol in the coming days, the governor told residents to stay calm.
“Our true test is not just preventing COVID-19 infection, but how we will face and defeat COVID-19 when it does appear in Bohol,” Yap said.