The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe could hit 1.8 million worldwide this year even with swift and stringent measures to stop it, according to a study from Britain's Imperial College published Thursday.

THE Department of Labor and Employment has assured workers in the local and overseas employment sectors who have been affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic of government financial assistance through the agency’s programs.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday informed the public that starting Tuesday (March 24), non-residents will not be allowed into Hong Kong, transit passengers included, for a two-week period.

"The Philippine Embassy in Seoul received confirmation from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) that a Filipino national tested positive with Covid-19 on 20 March 2020. This is the first confirmed case of Covid-19 infection involving a Filipino national in South Korea," the embassy said Friday night.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed that there are now a total of 11 Filipino nationals who tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Singapore.

CNN PHILIPPINES — Overseas Filipino workers and foreign nationals are now allowed to leave the country anytime within the duration of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.

THE first batch of 2,000 fast test kits for coronavirus-19 jointly donated by the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines and the China Mammoth Foundation to help the Philippines fight the epidemic arrived yesterday.

THE Philippines is among 38 countries covered by a temporary travel ban clamped by the Government of Saudi Arabia on Thursday in an effort to stop the increase of coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) cases in the Kingdom.

“All arrivals in the State of Kuwait from any nationality who have a valid residency or previous entry visa, as well as those from other airports who were present in the countries mentioned above during the past two weeks, are prohibited,” according to the Kuwaiti Circular.

THE Philippine Red Cross (PRC) distributed 27,000 masks to around 5,500 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning to Hong Kong to protect themselves from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

THE Department of Labor and Employment has announced that it is close to finalizing a bilateral labor agreement (BLA) with Moscow.

A DAY before the Filipinos on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan were set to return to the country, 10 more of them tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Department of Health said yesterday.

THE Ministry of Public Security of China has obtained a list of Chinese nationals suspected of committing long-term telecommunication fraud crimes abroad in an effort to crackdown on cross-border telecommunications fraud, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said yesterday.

HUNDREDS of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Special Administrative Region of Kurdistan, a northern province in Iraq which is violence free, has appealed to the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad to recommend the lifting of the deployment ban imposed by the government.

The Department of Labor and Employment, government and private donors recently signed a memorandum of agreement for the construction of the first hospital for OFWs.