The Department of Transportation (DOTr)’s One Stop Shop (OSS) has admitted that the halt in operations of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in conducting swab tests and processing swab samples of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) was challenging but they found a way to make it work.
According to Office of Transportation Security (OTS) and Head of OSS Undersecretary Raul Del Rosario, 12 hospitals volunteered to accommodate all of the samples. But the resumption of PRC operations will still greatly help in conducting swab tests at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
USec. Del Rosario has disclosed that they are still awaiting the directive from the National Task Force against COVID-19 Chairperson Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on the matter.
In a text message, Sec. Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that the PRC must go through the process at the NAIA before resuming its services for returning OFWs. It is still unclear when the swab testing of the PRC will resume in the said airport.
Meanwhile, USec. Del Rosario has ensured that they will take action on the needs of the returning OFWs.
Based on the recent data of the OSS, around 1,700 OFWs have returned to their respective provinces with the help of the Overseas Welfare Workers Administration (OWWA). Report from Bea Bernardo
