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Government to send medical team to HK to care for sick OFWs

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The Philippines is planning to send a medical team to Hong Kong to assist overseas Filipino workers who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said yesterday as the city reels under its worst coronavirus outbreak to date.

HELPERS NEED HELP. A foreign domestic helper on her Sunday rest day packs up her belongings after an operation against people who fail to comply with social distancing measures at a subway in Hong Kong’s Central area on February 20, 2022, amid the city’s worst-ever coronavirus outbreak. AFP

“[Labor Secretary Silvestre III] Bello said this is what we are planning [to do]…Some of our OFWs are in the isolation facility by the Hong Kong authorities. So, there must also be coordination, proper coordination with the Hong Kong authorities,” OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said.

As of Wednesday, Cacdac said eight out of 76 OFWs who have been infected with COVID-19 were confined in hospitals.

“Eight are in the hospital, admitted to the hospital and all the rest are in isolation facilities. It’s either they are in employer’s home isolation—mostly in employer’s home isolation—or Hong Kong government isolation or in non-government organization isolation,” he added.

He said the Philippine government had so far provided food, hygiene kits, and power banks to affected OFWs.

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“And then, of course, when they are out of the hospital and have recovered they will receive $200 financial assistance…If they want to go back to the Philippines, we will provide them with livelihood assistance, and if they have college level-dependents, they will be given scholarship contracts,” the OWWA chief said.

Cacdac reiterated that employers who will fire sick OFWs in Hong Kong will face labor cases and sanctions.

“The possible sanction will be a labor case if they terminate our OFWs. The next one will be on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Secretary Bello declared that employers who have treated our workers like that will be blacklisted,” he said.

Cacdac added that these employers would also face penalties by the host territory.

“On the Hong Kong side, the labor authorities said that’s illegal termination and then, here on the POEA, the blacklisting of employers who carry out illegal termination,” he added.

Meanwhile, a coalition of NGOs serving migrant workers said the number of domestic helpers needing immediate help with home quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 had increased from a handful to nearly 70 in less than a week.

The coalition told Hong Kong media it was trying to secure alternative accommodation for the workers, including university dormitories or religious retreat housing, but they were being frustrated by social-distancing rules and red tape.

HELP For Domestic Workers first received urgent calls from five domestic workers last Wednesday who had nowhere to serve their home quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus. The number of requests had since jumped to 68, it said.

At one shelter, 11 domestic workers were crammed into a single room, she said, emphasizing the situation was “not ideal, especially if people were sick.”

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