(Eagle News) — The Palace on Monday, Feb. 21, said the Philippine government was extending its assistance to Filipinos in Hong Kong who have contracted the COVID-19 virus.
Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles issued the statement following reports some COVID-19-positive Overseas Filipino Workers had to wait outside hospitals, which were at full capacity.
Some reports said some OFWs were also forced to sleep in public spaces because their employers feared contracting the virus as well.
“Our POLO [Philippine Overseas Labor Office] immediately provided them with food, hygiene kits and power banks to allow them to communicate while waiting for calls from the Center for Health Protection and HK Labour Department,” Nograles said.
He said POLO also “coordinated with a non-government organization to provide an isolation facility to accommodate several of our OFWs.”
“It also coordinated with the HK Labour Department, which set up an isolation facility for our kababayans, pending admission to the quarantine facility, apart from providing transportation arrangements,” he said.
He said the POLO also gave OFWs US$200 to OFWs who recovered from the virus as the government’s after-care financial help.
