All immigration employees told to undergo rapid test for COVID-19

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has made COVID-19 rapid tests mandatory for all its more than 3,000 officials and employees nationwide.

Employees who refuse to be tested will not be allowed to work, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement.

"We have decided to make these tests compulsory for all our personnel to further safeguard the health of our employees and the people who transact business in our offices due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country," the official said.

An employee at the BI's main office in Intramuros, Manila tested positive for COVID-19

Mandatory testing started Wednesday at the main building with assistance from the city government, the BI said.

In addition, all accredited liaison officers and representatives of travel agencies and law offices transacting at the BI need to undergo rapid testing and will not be allowed entry otherwise.

Morente directed BI employees in immigration field offices and subports outside Metro Manila to coordinate with their local government units to get free COVID-19 tests for frontliners.

BI acting spokesman Melvin Mabulac said only about a third of the BI's 3,157 employees were tested in voluntary rapid tests previously conducted at the main office, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Clark Airport, and the detention facility in Taguig City.

Another round of tests of immigration personnel at NAIA and at the bureau's satellite and extension offices in Manila will be conducted in the "next few days," Mabulac said in the statement. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News