912 OFWs repatriated from Qatar amid COVID-19 crisis –ambassador

At least 912 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar have been repatriated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambassador Alan Timbayan said Monday.

In a televised briefing, Timbayan said the OFWs, including some infants, arrived in the Philippines between May and July. He added that 4,600 more Filipinos are awaiting repatriation and the embassy is working with Qatar’s government and the airlines on this matter.

“The embassy is doing everything it can to address the clamor for repatriation,” he said.

Timbayan also said that 15 Filipinos contracted the virus in the Gulf state.

Qatar has so far reported 103,598 COVID-19 cases, with 147 deaths, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. —Virgil Lopez/KBK, GMA News