THE Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration yesterday reported that more than 270,000 overseas Filipino workers have already been repatriated amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said the OFWs were already brought home to their respective hometowns.
“Sila ay nabigyan ng ayuda, dumaan sa test, nag-quarantine at nahatid sa kani-kanilang probinsya,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cacdac said OWWA has tapped 17 government laboratories to conduct COVID-19 tests on OFWs after the Philippine Red Cross stopped processing swab samples from arriving OFWs.
He said about 5,000 OFWs are still in quarantine in various hotels in Metro Manila.
Last month, the Department of Labor and Employment pegged the number of OFWs affected by the pandemic at more or less 500,000.
DOLE said the number could reach up to 700,000 if the government fails to address the health crisis.
