The Department of Transportation also announced that two temporary quarantine ships are ready to accommodate returning Filipinos abroad beginning Sunday. The agency said it commissioned two private vessels, of which one is big enough to carry 800 individuals while the other can accommodate 300 people while following the Department of Health’s social distancing guidelines.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 11) — Thousands of Filipinos abroad have been brought home to the Philippines since the coronavirus disease spread two months ago, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The agency reported Saturday that a total of 11,394 overseas, land-based and sea-based Filipinos have returned to the country since February.
The agency concluded its 12th consecutive day of evacuating Filipinos after bringing home 246 seafarers from the United Kingdom.
The first batch of repatriated Filipinos were from Wuhan, the Chinese city that was the original epicenter of the pandemic. The DFA brought home 32 Filipinos from the city on February 9 and since then, the department has been sending teams to fetch others staying in different countries.
However, only those who do not show COVID-19 symptoms and who are required to undergo 14-day quarantine are allowed on the ships, the DOTr clarified.
On the other hand, COVID-19 cases involving overseas Filipinos continue to rise. The DFA reported that 651 Filipinos in 40 countries and regions have contracted the deadly disease while 84 have died. The Department of Health already confirmed 294 of the COVID-19 positive patients abroad. Some 188 have also recovered and have been released from the hospital.
The Labor Department released guidelines on financial assistance to overseas Filipinos but the aid is limited to regular or documented and qualified undocumented overseas Filipino workers, and “balik-manggagawa” or Filipinos unable to leave countries due to lockdowns. The guidelines also named only a number of priority countries.
Coast guard personnel will also be deployed to man the vessels, it added.
OFWs who are not from the listed countries and who are not eligible for the cash aid have sought help from the national government. But Labor chief Silvestre Bello said they can only receive the cash if there is enough balance left for them from the initial rollout.
LOOK: Temporary quarantine ships from the Department of Transportation now ready to accommodate returning seafarers and OFWs | 📸: @DOTrPH pic.twitter.com/rbTBFj2W6m
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) April 11, 2020
