The national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Saturday, May 8, issued a new protocol for Returning Overseas Filipinos and Overseas Filipino Workers, Councilor Israel Salanga, chair of the Bacolod Action Team on OFWs and ROFs, said.
The new protocol states that all arriving travelers should undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival. The first 10 days of which should be observed in a quarantine facility, with the remainder to be completed under home quarantine in their respective local government units of destination, he said.
This means the swabbing for an RT-PCR test on the fifth day of arrival and being allowed to immediately return to home provinces if they yield negative test results will no longer will be granted, Salanga said.
The ROFs and OFWs will have to be quarantined in a facility in Manila or Cebu for 10 days and the remaining four days in their local governments of destination, he said.
Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing will be conducted on the 7th day from their arrival, and notwithstanding a negative test result, the arriving traveler should complete the facility-based quarantine period of ten days, he said.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will take care of the OFWs quarantine, tests and sweeper flights unlike the ROFs, Salanga added.
The Bureau of Quarantine will ensure strict symptom monitoring while the OFWs and ROFs are in facility quarantine for 10 days, the IATF-EID said.*