The Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) said around 10 to 14 percent of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) tested positive for COVID-19.
“Sa ngayon ang average per day na arrivals, ‘yung capacity natin is 3,000. Ang nagpa-positive everyday is close to 300. So approximately 10% to 14% ang nagpa-positive sa arrivals nating mga Pilipino,” BOQ Deputy Director Dr. Roberto Salvador Jr. said at the Laging Handa briefing.
(At present, the average per day of arrivals, our capacity is at 3,000. Those who test positive each day are close to 300. Approximately 10% to 14% of arriving Filipinos are testing positive.)
The BOQ received at least 300 RT-PCR results of arriving OFWs daily.
Salvador added many OFWs tested positive during the second to the third week of December 2021. As a result, many OFWs spent their holidays in hotels due to a lack of quarantine facilities.
BOQ said around 3,300 OFWs had completed their quarantine and were able to go home last week.
Last week, Malacañang said returning Filipinos recovering from COVID-19 would be allowed entry to the Philippines, as long as they are no longer contagious and other conditions.
Around 14% of OFWs positive for COVID-19 – BOQ
The Inter-Agency Task Force Resolution 158 said Filipino passengers who have recently recovered from COVID-19 but tested positive in the required pre-departure RT-PCR test might be allowed entry into the country subject to the following conditions:
- a positive RT-PCR test taken within forty-eight hours (48 hrs) before the date/time of departure from country/port of origin;
- the traveler has a medical certificate issued by a licensed physician stating that the traveler has completed the mandatory isolation period, is no longer infectious, and has been allowed free movement/travel; and
- a positive RT-PCR test taken not earlier than 10 days but not later than 30 days before the date/time of departure from the country/port of origin.
However, they were still required to quarantine at a facility based on their COVID-19 vaccination status and the country/territory/jurisdiction of origin classification.
Meanwhile, BOQ also announced that two other Filipinos who came from abroad face charges for violating the country’s quarantine protocol.
According to BOQ deputy director Dr. Robert Salvador, one of them used a fake quarantine certificate.
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