OFW with COVID-19 who escaped from quarantine now under DOH-BOQ custody —OWWA

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac on Tuesday said a repatriated overseas Filipino worker who escaped from a quarantine facility then later turned positive for COVID-19 has been placed under the custody of health officials.

“Doon naman sa taong COVID-positive. Siya ngayon ay nasa kustodiya na ng DOH - BOQ sa isang pasilidad. So the situation is under control,” Cacdac said in an interview on GMA News' Unang Hirit.

On Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which oversees some of the quarantine facilities for repatriated OFWs, revealed that eight repatriated OFWs have escaped from the hotels before their COVID-19 test results were released.

One of them later turned positive for COVID-19.

The said OFW, a 49-year-old male, has been located.

“Na-isolate 'yung lugar at 'yung mga tao sa lugar na 'yun. Meron nang medical protocols being applied, quarantine, swab testing, et cetera,” Cacdac said.

Another one of the OFWs who escaped was also found.

Cacdac said the aspect of “escaping” was not clear for one of the two OFWs.

The OWWA administrator advised repatriated OFWs in quarantine facilities to stretch their patience and wait for their COVID-19 test results.

“Sa dami kasi—25,000—we really just have to wait until the results come out,” OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said in an interview on GMA's Unang Hirit.

He explained that the COVID-19 test results of repatriated OFWs were being released in different batches.

Cacdac reiterated that repatriated OFWs cannot leave the hotels, which are designated as isolation facilities, until their test results arrive, in accordance with guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA News