Returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are now required to undergo mandatory rapid antibody testing for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Inter-Agency Task Force for COVID-19 response announced Tuesday.
Cabinet secretary and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the measure covers all sea-based and land-based OFWs repatriated in the country.
He explained that Filipino migrant workers shall be subjected to rapid antibody testing for COVID-19 in accordance with Department Memorandum 2020-0180 issued by the Department of Health (DOH), Inquirer reported.
“Sea-based OFW on board cruise ships who have been issued with a clean bill of health by the Bureau of Quarantine upon presentation of certificate of completion of 14-day quarantine issued at the point of origin immediately before departure shall nevertheless be subjected to a rapid antibody testing,” Nograles said.
Aside from the COVID-19 testing, returning OFWs are also obliged to go through a 14-day facility-based quarantine.
Previously, repatriated migrant workers are either transported to various quarantine facilities to undergo mandatory quarantine or mandated to take a home-based self-quarantine.
Data from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) shows that there are 16,682 OFWs repatriated, 13,213 of whom are seafarers, while the remaining 3,469 are land-based.
Meanwhile, there are 990 overseas Filipinos who contracted COVID-19 including 263 recoveries and 143 fatalities.
READ MORE: Number of OFWs repatriated by DFA reaches 18,000
