BI personnel at NAIA negative for COVID-19

Immigration officers man their post at the Naia Terminal 1. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LYN RILLON

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) office at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) remains COVID-free after nine officers tested negative on Friday.

BI chief Jaime Morente said the nine officers underwent confirmatory reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swab tests after they initially tested positive for the new coronavirus during a rapid antibody test conducted for 3,157 BI-NAIA officers last June 5.

“We are elated upon learning that, so far, none of our frontliners at the NAIA have been infected by the virus,” Morente said in a statement.

Morente reiterated his earlier directive to all BI employees nationwide to undergo mandatory rapid antibody tests or they will not be allowed to return to work.

Meanwhile, BI Port Operations Division acting chief Grifton Medina reminded BI-NAIA personnel that “they should not be complacent as the battle against the virus is far from over.”

“We reminded them to always observe physical distancing, practice good hygiene, and always wear face masks, gloves, and other protective gear while on duty and especially when processing and interviewing passengers undergoing routine immigration inspection,” Medina said. (Jim Mendoza)

GSG