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Pregnant OFW reaches due date in quarantine facility while awaiting COVID-19 test results


A pregnant overseas Filipino worker who has been stranded in an isolation facility in Manila has reached her due date while awaiting for her COVID-19 test results.

According to a 24 Oras report by Athena Imperial on Tuesday, Katherine Bartolome, an OFW from Dubai, has been staying at a hotel facility for over a month, which is already beyond the mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

Due to her pending test results, she might just reach her due date inside the facility.

“Ang sabi sa k'in ng OB ko, due date ko is June 2. But since medyo malaki ‘yong baby ko, medyo mas mapapaaga pa raw ‘yong panganganak ko. Maybe, two  weeks early,” Bartolome said.

She added that she, along with other OFWs, remains stranded and cannot go home to their respective hometowns.

“May 6, pinuntahan po kami ng Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). Sinabihan po kami na isa-swab test kami. Dinala po kami sa Philippine Red Cross sa EDSA po. Sa pagkaka-inform po sa amin, 3 to 5 days lalabas na ‘yong resulta. Hanggang ngayon, wala pa rin po,” Bartolome, who is from San Pablo, Laguna, said.

She said she wants to get checked already, however, OWWA prevented her, saying it is not an emergency case.

Recently, Bartolome slipped in her hotel bathroom but OWWA failed to bring her to the hospital.

“Right away, tinawagan ko ‘yong OWWA. Sabi noong midwife, okay lang naman daw kasi hindi naman… wala naman daw akong discharge, hindi ako dinugo. So parang hindi emergency kaya hindi ako madala sa ospital,” she said.

Malacañang said they will address the complaints of OFWs immediately.

“Hihingi tayo ng inbentaryo sa OWWA kung sinu-sino ‘yong mga naghihintay ng resulta, bakit ganoon katagal at bibigyan ko po kayo ng abiso kung ano sasabihin ng OWWA,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac and the Philippine Coast Guard, meanwhile, appealed to the OFWs to be patient because the process takes time.

“Mayroon ng lumalabas na mga resulta and umaabot na sa around 600 ‘yong napauwi natin doon sa ating mga hotel facilities. Sa dami kasi, 25,000, we really have just to wait until the results come out, but two things, one is nakapag-mount na tayo ng dalawang mercy voyages,” he said.

“Mayroong mga sitwasyon na may hawak na noong certificate na papasunduin, its either may susundo sa kanila or dinadala na namin sila or ‘yong sinasabi kong napapauwi na,” Cacdac added.

“Alam ko nahihirapan na kayo at medyo matagal ‘yong PCR testing pero ito po ay para sa kabutihan nating lahat,” PCG spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo said. —Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News

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