Filipinos in China almost COVID-free

Sta. Romana said that China imposed stricter guidelines in terms of its international flights after recent cases of COVID-19 were found among Chinese nationals coming back from abroad

Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana on Friday said that the Filipino community in mainland China only has one reported COVID-19 case.

“We’re happy to say that the Filipino community here is almost COVID-free and I’m talking of mainland China not including Hong Kong and Taiwan,” he said.

Sta. Romana said that no further cases have been reported after since its first case in March.

The Ambassador also lauded China for using technology as its primary approach in treatment and contact tracing among COVID-19 positive individuals.

“They employed a lot of technology to be able to control the epidemic...using it to basically monitor the movements,” he said.

On the other hand, Sta. Romana said that the Embassy has been having difficulty in repatriating some Filipinos due to restrictions and limited flights.

About 265 Filipinos aired their request to be repatriated mostly coming from areas in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou.

“Many would like to go home, in mainland [China] almost 265 who either lost their jobs, have finished their contracts or are just willing to go back, the problem is really waiting for the resumption of flights,” he said, noting an increase in airfare tickets which most cannot afford.

Sta. Romana said that China imposed stricter guidelines in terms of its international flights after recent cases of COVID-19 were found among Chinese nationals coming back from abroad.

“Most of these cases [COVID-19] are suspected due to Chinese who came back from abroad and because of this they are strict in the resuming of flights and this is affecting the flight of the Filipinos,” he said.

Last February, the first flight from Wuhan — the epicenter of the coronavirus disease — repatriated about 40 Filipinos in coordination with the Department of Health and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

To date, China with 84,216 cases is at the 18th spot worldwide with the most COVID-19 cases with the global tally reaching 7.5 million infected individuals.