THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) said Friday, March 26, that all returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) must undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, even those who have already been vaccinated.
Owwa Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said returning OFWs should also undergo mandatory quarantine and must be cleared from Covid-19 before they can meet their families.
“Those vaccinated abroad still need to undergo our medical quarantine protocol upon their return,” said Cacdac.
“This means that upon arrival, they will be brought to the hotel quarantine facilities, get tested on the sixth day, and, once cleared, we will transport them,” he added.
The Owwa chief said the decision is anchored on the fact that vaccinated individuals can still serve as Covid-19 carriers or may even get infected.
“According to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, there are still individuals that get infected with Covid-19 despite having been inoculated,” he said.
“There is also that possibility of them transmitting the virus to other people,” added Cacdac.
As of the March 26, Owwa data showed that 492,000 OFWs have already arrived in the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of the 492,000, about 7,000 OFWs are currently quarantined in around 135 hotels in the country, Cacdac said. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)