DAVAO CITY – An official from the city government said Wednesday 32 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who arrived here have tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
City Tourism Office chief and Airport Monitoring head Generose Tecson told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview that the number is out of the more than 2,000 OFWs who have arrived in the city since July.
“We already have 10 repatriation flights and out of that, let’s say 2,000 passengers, only 32 tested positive or 1.5 percent,” she said.
Tecson also clarified that all of the positive OFWs have recovered and returned to their families.
“Actually, when we accepted repatriation flights we consider all cases as possible Delta variants (carriers), that’s why we strictly followed the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) guidelines to quarantine them and if they tested positive of Covid-19, we pulled them out and separate them and did not include them in our temporary treatment monitoring facilities. They have a facility intended for them,” she added.
During their arrival, the OFWs will enter a bubble quarantine to ensure their family’s safety against Covid-19. Under Davao’s “bubble wrap”, all arriving passengers will be brought to their isolation hotels where they will undergo swab tests for Covid-19 and be locked in for 14 days.
A One-Stop-Shop was also set up at the Davao International Airport (DIA) to screen, identify, and isolate arriving international passengers to prevent and minimize the spread of Covid-19 and to facilitate and manage the arrival of returning Filipinos.
“We implement the test before travel here. So before they can board their flight, they are already tested, that’s why we don’t see high numbers of positive cases unlike other airports,” Tecson added.
She also said for this month, they are expecting four repatriated flights coming into the city. (PNA)
Source: Philippines News Agency
