'NAPAKA-SURREAL'

OFWs in Dubai share harrowing COVID-19 brush

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Amid the backdrop of a record-high 17 COVID-related deaths reported by the government and daily new cases breaching the 4,500-mark early this week, Filipinos here have taken extra measures to keep safe.

Those who have had brushes with the infectious disease share their ordeal to remind everyone that complacency could cause their life.

A number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) interviewed by GMA News Online said they had no idea they were already infected, explaining that they thought the malaise and colds they were experiencing were due to the cold weather.

'Just the weather'

"I was not considering that it was COVID-19 because it was the same week that the weather suddenly got very cold. So, I thought, maybe it was just the weather," said Joanne Rico of Parañaque City, who heads the sales and marketing department at the healthcare company she is working at.

For her part, Jona M. Lewis said she first dismissed it as something caused by fatigue – until she noticed she has lost her sense of smell.

"Nuong January 21, naramdaman kong sumakit ang katawan ko. Nung una, akala ko pagod lang ako. A day later, nagkalagnat na din ako at shortly after, hindi ko na maamoy yung paligid ko. Dito ko na naisip na baka may Covid na ako,” she told GMA News Online.

Beniflor G. Quilang, accountant who hails from Cabagan, Isabela, said she did not have symptoms at all and was working from home because an officemate has tested positive.

"After a week, the company’s Human Resource Department (HRD) advised me to undergo PCR test just to make sure I am safe from COVID before returning to work," Quilang said.

Quilang was staying with a friend, who was also working from home because a fellow employee has tested positive. “Eh, umuubo-ubo na sya sa bahay. Since we were in the flu season, di naman kami nag-alala na baka may COVID siya and also because seldom go out— besides, it has been a week na naka-kulong lang sa bahay,” Quilang said.

Both tested positive the next day.

Rico, meanwhile, got feverish and had a PCR test on doctor’s advice. The hospital where she had it called at 1 a.m. to inform her she was positive.

Rico said she informed everyone who needed to know – colleagues, superiors and close friends. She said she only told her mother and other loved ones back home in the Philippines through video call when she was already feeling better "so that they will see my exact condition and will not worry."

Surreal

"Napaka-surreal," said Lewis. "Hindi ako makapaniwala na may COVID ako dahil sobra kong ingat. Kina-usap ko pa nga last year ang manager ko na mag-iiba muna ako ng shift dahil ayaw ko sumabay sa rush hour ng metro. Aside from that, lagi din ako nagsa-sanitize and lagi ako nakadouble mask."

Quilang said the first thing that went her mind was their two other housemates who were not infected. "Kinabahan ba ako? Hindi ko alam! But I was a bit worried kasi may dalawa pa kaming kasama and both were negative," she said.

Quilang said she told her siblings, but asked them not to tell their parents. "Alam ko kung paano mag-alala ang mga parents ko kaya di ko muna pina-alam since alam ko naman na I will be okay," she said.  

Virgie Sarabia (real name withheld on request) of San Pedro, Laguna who runs a restaurant in Dubai, described her bout with COVID as something that made her “very sick.”

“Iba ang dating ng COVID,” she said, adding that she was scared when the PR test result came out.

Vaccine

All four OFWs luckily made it. Asked why they have not taken the vaccine beforehand, Sarabia said she had planned to but COVID got her sooner.

“Nagpang-abot yung PCR test ko sa pa-vaccine. Nung ni-require ng company na all employees should take the vaccine, tsaka naman kailangan kong magpa-test muna. Wala ng choice and no one to blame,” said Quilang.

Rico said she has a medical condition while Lewis said, “Hindi pa ako convinced.”

Dubai and the rest of the country has been having daily average temperatures of 19°C dropping to 10°C at night. Experts say the coronavirus survive and is transmitted more easily in cold air.

Numbers

There has lately been a significant rise in the number of  COVID fatalities. According to the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), there were 10 deaths on Feb. 4; 14 deaths on Feb. 5 and 12 on Feb. 6. There were 17 on Feb. 9. Previously, the numbers would range from five to nine deaths.

There were 4,075 new cases on Feb. 3;  3,860 on Feb. 5; 3,276 on Feb. 6; and 2,993 on Feb. 10. Active cases were at 19,113 also as of Feb. 10. On Feb. 1 it was 24,070 active cases. — KBK/RSJ, GMA News