30 OFWs from Wuhan quarantined in Capas
MANILA, Philippines — A flight from Wuhan, China the epicenter of the 2019-novel coronavirus (
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the repatriated OFWs on the chartered flight that landed at the Haribon Hangar in Clark Air Base included 29 adults and an infant. They sought to return home from Wuhan City.
With the repatriates were a 10-member team from the Philippines
Upon their arrival, the OFWs
All their
Aside from the OFWs, the DOH also placed under the same quarantine the two Philippine consulate staff who coordinated the repatriation in Wuhan, all five members of the medical team, six airline crew, and three from the DFA-OUMWA team.
While all 30 of the OFWs have no symptoms of nCoV, the DOH has maintained a Code Blue alert placed on all government health facilities in Central Luzon to provide the necessary medical needs of the repatriates.
The DOH said all public provincial and city hospitals, as well as health offices and other government health facilities in Central Luzon, are ordered to immediately extend medical services for repatriated Filipinos from China if necessary.
The medical teams at New Clark City will assess and determine if the repatriated OFWs will be transferred to a hospital for close monitoring.
The DOH is in charge of the management, coordination and logistics of the entire quarantine process.
“Repatriated OFWs will be attended to and treated with utmost care. Regular monitoring will be conducted to ensure their health and safety,” the DOH said yesterday.
The DFA made an initial call for the repatriation of Filipino nationals in China on Jan. 28, which was facilitated by the Philippine embassy in Beijing and the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai, the foreign service post with jurisdiction over Wuhan city in Hubei province.
The embassy and the consulate liaised with Chinese authorities to facilitate the operation.
This past week, two representatives from the Consulate General in Shanghai had to hurdle several border provinces’ clearances along their arduous two-day land travel to Wuhan to coordinate with the Filipino community and the Foreign Affairs Office in Hubei.
Official commendation
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor group, yesterday commended government officials and personnel involved in the repatriation.
TUCP president and party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said he will file a House resolution honoring the health and diplomatic officials, as well as cabin crew and pilots, involved in the successful repatriation of OFWs from China.
“Workers and their families salute the DFA and DOH personnel, and commend the cabin crew and the pilots, for accepting the dangerous mission and putting themselves on the line and successfully bringing (home) our modern heroes, the OFWs,” Mendoza said in a statement.
About face
In a complete turnaround, Capas, Tarlac Mayor Rey Catacutan said yesterday he welcomed the OFW repatriates billeted at the Athletes’ Village at NCC, as he expressed “our sympathy and prayers” for their health.
It was earlier reported that Capas Vice Mayor Jeseller Rodriguez, along with other members of their municipal council, is planning to file a petition for a court injunction against the use of NCC as a quarantine facility. Last Friday, the Municipal Council of Capas passed a resolution against turning the Athletes’ Village into a quarantine area.
In a message from Germany where the mayor is on an official trip, Catacutan said “we acknowledge that the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has full jurisdiction over NCC, but I, as the Mayor of Capas, appealed in behalf of all Capaseños to our dear President Rodrigo Duterte and DOH Secretary Francisco Duque to consider another place or facility as isolation area.”
Catacutan said, however, that his initial objection against the use of the Athletes’ Village for quarantine related to the nCoV epidemic was “not a final stand but an initial reaction from a father who was protecting his family.”
“As father of Capas who is distant from his constituents, I had to react to the panic caused by the sudden news that the repatriated OFWs were to be quarantined at the NCC,” he said.
He blamed his reaction to lack of information on the sudden announcement on the use of NCC as a quarantine site, as he pointed out concerns over slated sports events, as well as the huge cost of building the NCC to attract investors.
“The people of Capas are not being selfish but a mere proof of what happens when people are not made fully aware of a situation, or a problem and its solution. They panic, they fear, and they get agry and protest,” Catacutan said in his message.
He noted that “the people of Capas have been through many tragedies but they have never forgotten to help in various circumstances.”
“We in Capas, offer our home, our sympathy, and prayers for the health of our fellow Filipinos, and hopefully there would be a permanent solution for nCoV,” he added.
Rodriguez has also softened his stand against the use of NCC as quarantine site, provided no more repatriated OFWs from China would be accomodated there and that the use would be limited only to 14 days.
Malacañang yesterday assured the Capas local government that measures are in place to prevent the spread of nCoV, and reiterated that local governments cannot stop the plan to billet the repatriated OFWs in the Athletes’ Village.
“It’s natural (for local governments to react that way) but first, the place belongs to the national government so the local governments do not have a say on that,” Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a radio interview.
“Second, all protocols are being implemented so they are not in danger. Those who arrived have been isolated,” he added.
Economic impact
Panelo admitted that the President is worried about the impact of nCoV on the country’s economy and tourism but maintained that measures are being done to mitigate it.
“Every President will be bothered every time the economy is affected. That’s why we are finding ways (to address the issue),” he said.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia previously said nCoV would slash less than a percentage point, or 0.7 percent, off the Philippines’ gross domestic product if it remains for the entire year. The reduction would be about 0.06 percent if nCoV persists for a month, while the impact would be about 0.3 percent if it remains until June, Pernia added.
Asked whether Duterte shares US President Donald Trump’s optimism that China would be successful in combating nCoV, Panelo replied, “All of us should hope and pray that we can discover (the cure) that can stop this disease.”
Panelo also clarified that patients being investigated for nCoV won’t be charged if they are admitted to government hospitals. There have been claims that the government only shoulders the diagnostic tests for nCoV but not other hospital fees.
“Why would they (patients) shoulder (the costs)? They are in a government (hospital),” he said.
“If they are in a private (institution), they would really have to spend money but if they are in a government (hospital), I don’t think they would,” he added.
‘Treated with utmost care’
Meanwhile, Sen. Bong Go, chairman of the Senate health committee, gave assurances yesterday that proper protocols will be strictly followed regarding the repatriation of overseas Filipinos from Hubei, China.
He said the repatriated Filipinos will be treated with utmost care as it was not their fault to be in the center of the nCoV outbreak in China, adding the public should not be scared as strict quarantine protocols are already in place once they arrive in the country.
“For me, we must help our countrymen who want to go home. Let our officials follow the protocols. There are measures that can be taken to prevent our workers from being infected,” the senator said.
He lamented that the Filipino public should show compassion to their repatriated countrymen and not make them feel unwelcome in their own country.
If no one else will welcome them, Go said he is willing to accept them and find a place in Mindanao that can accommodate them during the 14-day quarantine period. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Ding Cervantes, Evelyn Macairan, Paolo Romero, Alexis Romero
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