Returning OFW go directly to isolation facility
All the people arriving especially for those areas with less transmission... the probability of an individual of getting that certain disease is just low
With more restrictions eased, the Philippines will no longer be requiring testing for all returning overseas Filipino workers (OFW) coming from low to mid COVID-19 prevalence countries.
The Department of Health (DoH) on Monday explained that these OFW may be directed immediately to an isolation facility where if there are no symptoms reported then they may be allowed to go home to their cities or provinces.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire explained that this was mandated in order to rationalize protocols being implemented among varying borders.
“All the people arriving especially for those areas with less transmission... the probability of an individual of getting that certain disease is just low,” she said, noting that experts were initially consulted before formulating the decision.
She mentioned that returning Filipinos are usually tested in their countries of origin two to three days prior to their travel.
However, she assured that OFW will still need to follow the policies executed by their respective local government units upon their arrival such as a need for a negative RT-PCR result or to be quarantined.
Vergeire said that LGU will be responsible for screening whoever enters their border.
“LGU do not just let for any person to go inside their territory... and they make sure that all protocols are also complied with. It’s also because we often get bottlenecks in these kinds of repetitive protocols,” she said.
The specific low to mid prevalence countries will depend on the regularly released list by the World Health Organization.
Initially, OFW are tested upon their arrival in the country to which they are likewise tested again by their LGU before being issued to a isolation facility.
Meanwhile, Filipinos bound to travel to other countries will still need to adhere to the requirements mandated by the place they are going to on top of the initial policies implemented by the Inter-Agency Task Force.
Vergeire reiterated that although the antigen test may be used for specific purposes, the RT-PCR remains to be the gold standard for detecting COVID-19.
She assured that OFW will still need to follow the policies executed by their respective local government units upon their arrival such as a need for a negative RT-PCR result or to be quarantined.
On Thursday, the DoH ordered the re-routing of affected testing samples to high capacity laboratories following the issue on the hampered operations of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC).
The PRC usually processes the samples of OFW, government workers, frontliners, and other returning Filipinos but it was stopped due to an overdue payment yet to be dealt with by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.