OWWA: Number of OFWs in quarantine facilities close to ‘red alert’ level

(FILE) 61 OFWs sent home from Fort Magsaysay quarantine facility. BCDA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) now staying in quarantine facilities is already reaching the “red alert” level, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said on Thursday.

The situation, however, is still manageable, the OWWA said.

OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac said about 9,000 OFWs are currently staying in 240 hotel quarantine facilities.

“Manageable ang sitwasyon sa ngayon, although medyo red flag or red alert levels na ‘yan for us,” he said.

(The situation is manageable for now but it is already considered a red alert for us.)

“So, binabantayan nating maigi ang sitwasyon. Nakadepende kasi ito sa bilis ng pag-swab test at bilis ng paglabas ng swab test result,” he added.

(So we are monitoring the situation closely. It depends on the speed of the testing and the release of the results.)

He said facilities are seeing a delay in the release of swab test results due to the volume but they are already addressing it.

Cacdac said quarantine facilities may face more day-to-day complaints involving food, medicine, and health issues if there will be more OFWs in quarantine facilities.

To address this, OWWA has deployed additional teams to oversee the needs of the quarantined OFWs.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier proposed the deployment of police officers to guard quarantine hotels and prevent anyone from jumping quarantine.

He made the proposal in light of reports of returning Filipinos from the United States skipping quarantine and spreading COVID-19 in the country.

/MUF