LGUs to quarantine returning OFWs anew

Overseas Filipino Workers are finally heading home after undergoing quarantine in Metro Manila, but it looks like they still have to wait another 14 days to be reunited with their families.

According to a report on "24 Oras," some local government units will still quarantine the OFWs  who are returning to their hometowns amid the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Mayor Richard Gomez of Ormoc City on Monday appealed to national government agencies to coordinate with LGUs in facilitating the arrival of repatriates.

"Number one, kailangan ma-verify namin kung talaga bang taga-Ormoc. Next is, nag-quarantine ka na ba? Na-testing ka na ba? Saan ka ba galing? Pagkatapos, pagpasok mo ng Ormoc, ika-quarantine ka," Gomez said.

Mandatory quarantine will also be imposed on the over 150 OFWs who arrived at the Laguindingan Airport in Cagayan de Oro. Staff of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) received them and took them to a quarantine facility.

In Camarines Sur, the Department of Health (DOH) fetched and took two buses carrying OFWs to quarantine facilities.

In Murcia, Negros Occidental, 76 OFWs have been taken to a resort on Sunday to undergo quarantine.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said it is up to the LGUs to decide whether or not returning OFWs still need to be quarantined.

President Rodrigo Duterte gave the Department of Labor and Employment, OWWA, and the DOH one week to let 24,000 overseas Filipino workers waiting in Manila to go home. —MGP, GMA News