Quarantine period for repatriated Cebuano OFWs may reach 28 days

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are scheduled to arrive in Cebu at dawn on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, will have to undergo 14 days of mandatory quarantine in facilities here in Cebu City despite having previously completed the quarantine period prior to their departure from Metro Manila.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the measure is being undertaken in order to prevent compromising the security of the Cebuanos against the coronavirus disease amid the acceptance of persons coming from Metro Manila, the area which now has the highest number of coronavirus infection cases in the country.

The arrival of the OFWs onboard the mercy voyage of 2Go’s St. Michael the Archangel ship is expected at 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

Read: More than 200 OFWs set to arrive in Cebu on April 28

The ship boarded a total of 328 passengers when it left Manila on Monday afternoon, April 27. At least 267 are expected to disembark in Cebu City’s Pier 6 of which 220 are from Cebu while 47 will be transferred to another ship going to Bohol.

Garcia said the repatriated OFWs will be carried straight to hotels in Cebu City where they will stay for the duration of their quarantine period.

“Sulod ini nga katorse diaz, atong sutaon kung asa ni sila mamauli puhon, kung diin nga mga lungsod ug dakbayan sa probinsya sa Sugbo kung ugaling aduna may taga probinsya kay aron atong masultian daan ang mayor aron mapangandaman,” Garcia said.

(Within the 14 days, we will determine which parts of the province will they go home to after their quarantine if there are ones coming from areas in Cebu province so that we can warn their mayors ahead.)

Garcia said that with the present policies in the towns and cities in the province, it is highly possible that these OFWs will undergo quarantine again once they go to their hometowns after their quarantine period in Cebu City.

This means that their total quarantine period may reach to 28 days or close to a month.

Garcia, who earlier ordered for the ban on the entry of persons coming from outside the province in view of the COVID-19 threat, said imposing the quarantine is the only thing that the province can do as a precaution since the mercy voyage of the repatriated OFWs is facilitated by the national government and pursuant to policies of the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease.

Read: OWWA did not coordinate arrival of repatriated OFWs in Cebu — Gwen

“Wala tay mahimo niini kay mao na kini ang patakaran sa IATF nga atong dawaton ang mga OFWs nga gikan sa Probinsya sa Sugbo,” Garcia said.

Aside from completing the 14-day quarantine, the arriving OFWs were also subjected to a rapid test for COVID-19 before boarding the mercy voyage. /rcg