Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 5) – The government plans to test within the next few weeks some 25,000 overseas Filipinos who have flown home, COVID-19 response deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon said Tuesday.
Dizon, also the Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects, said mass testing among repatriated overseas Filipino workers will be done before government accepts additional flights carrying returning workers.
“Ang immediate nating goal in the next few weeks ay i-swab at i-test ang 25,000 OFWs at overseas Filipinos sa Metro Manila and greater Manila area [The immediate goal in the next few weeks is to swab and test the 25,000 OFWs and overseas Filipinos in Metro Manila and greater Manila area],” Dizon said in a Malacañang briefing.
Dizon said this goal also prompted the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to temporarily ban all inbound international flights carrying passengers from May 3-8. Prior to this, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it has assisted some 24,422 OFWs – bulk of them seafarers – who have returned to the country and are observing 14-day quarantine in various hubs within Metro Manila.
“We have to test them as soon as possible in order to be able to decongest the quarantine facilities… before we can start accepting OFWs again,” Dizon added.
Only cargo, medical, utility, and maintenance flights are exempted from the suspension and will remain unhampered.
Once the ban is lifted, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. said all returning Filipinos will be tested for COVID-19. Only those who test negative will be allowed to head home, where they must still go through a two-week isolation.
Currently, the country’s 22 COVID-19 laboratories can run an average of 5,000 tests daily. The state targets to open 56 more testing centers to raise the capacity to 30,000 tests a day by end-May.
Conglomerates have also pledged to help boost local testing efforts, with some firms donating equipment, test kits, and lending properties as temporary quarantine centers or swab booths for Filipinos being tested for the disease, Dizon said.
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