The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the move to bring back home the remains of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who died from COVID-19.
This came following the proposal of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to allow the repatriation of the bodies of Filipinos who died of COVID-19 abroad.
“Sinuportahan ng IATF and DOLE at ang DFA na pauwiin lahat ng mga OFW na namatay dahil sa Covid-19,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual press conference last week.
As of July 28, DFA announced that the number of OFWs who contracted COVID-19 has climbed to 8,433. The death toll also increased to 538 with two new fatalities.
In an earlier interview with The Filipino Times, the Philippine government has appealed to Saudi Arabia to give it ample time to repatriate the bodies of deceased Filipinos who died in the kingdom.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III told TFT that they received on June 16 communication from the Saudi government to repatriate the remains of 282 Filipinos within 72 hours. Of whom, 50 succumbed to the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19).
According to local reports, the remains of OFWs who succumbed to COVID-19 will be sealed under multiple containments and cremated upon their arrival in the country.
Upon arrival in the country, the bodies of OFWs will be transported with the help of the Department of National Defense directly to the crematoriums of choice of the family or the LGU.
