https://youtu.be/k77epPZdOSE
(Eagle News) – The Philippine government is now readying the process for the repatriation of some 200 Filipinos from Macau who will be considered persons under monitoring (PUMs) once they arrive in the country, according to the Department of Health.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that there are at least 148 Filipino workers in Macau who are up for repatriation, and another 48 Filipinos who are part of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) who will also be repatriated from Macau separately.
But unlike those repatriated from the coronavirus hotspots like China and Japan, those to be repatriated from Macau will no longer be quarantined at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
Instead, they will just undergo home quarantine and be closely monitored by the Department of Health (DOH) and the local government unit that covers their area.
“The Task Force approved the plan for the Department of Foreign Affairs to repatriate 148 Overseas Filipinos (OFs) from Macau SAR via chartered flight within the week, and for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to repatriate 48 active OWWA members via commercial flight
He said that there is already an agreement for the Bureau of Quarantine to identify the areas where the persons to be repatriated from Macau reside, and that this list will be also forwarded to the Department of Interior and Local Government for proper coordination with the concerned local government units.
Duque said that there will be daily monitoring of the persons under monitoring (PUMs) for fever, colds and cough.
He said that this is the best time for LGUs to activate the so-called BERTS or “barangay emergency response teams” to help in the monitoring of the PUMs.
The DOH chief also assured the public that there is no cause for alarm, since the overseas Filipinos to be repatriated would exclude those who have COVID-19 symtoms.
Macau only has 10 confirmed COVID-19 cases. It has not detected any new cases for almost a month.
(with a report from Madelyn Villar Moratillo, Eagle News Service)
