An overseas Filipino worker from Italy who is the first of the 116 repatriated Boholano OFWs to be cleared to go home was picked up on Friday morning by the local government unit (LGU) of San Miguel, the balikbyan’s hometown, to transport him from a quarantine facility to his family’s house.
According to San Miguel Mayor Virgilio Mendez, the OFW will no longer be quarantined in their town and it would be up to the balikbayan if he would still undergo a home quarantine for another 14 days.
Mendez said that the provincial government of Bohol through its Provincial Emergency Management Administration (PEMA) informed the LGU that there is no longer reason for the OFW to undergo further quarantine after testing negative for coronavirus disease (COVID) 19 twice in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.
The OFW also immediately underwent government-supervised facility quarantine after arriving in Bohol on April 27.
“With the strongly worded assurance gikan sa atong mga kadagkoan sa PEMA, very compelling na wala na g’yud ni siya’y [OFW] tulubagon pa unya wala na miy himuon pa kay when it comes to medical concerns, I think our officials are very much assured na negative na g’yud ang among idsuon,” Mendez said.
The mayor trusted the judgement of the PEMA which he said is the province’s top authority on issues relating to COVID-19 particularly the handling of returning OFWs.
According to Mendez, the San Miguel-native OFW is a seaman who traveled from Italy to the Philippines several weeks ago.
The balikbayan on Wednesday tested negative for the second time in a PCR test as reported by Department of Health 7 director Jaime Bernadas prompting local authorities to sign his quarantine clearance.
He was part of the first two batches of OFWs who arrived in Bohol on April 27 and were quarantined at the Mercedarian Retreat House in Dauis, Crabhouse Hotel in Tagbilaran City and the Roman Empire Resort in Panglao.
Some 54 more OFWs from various towns are expected to be cleared to go home within day after they also tested negative in PCR tests for the second time on Friday. (R. Tutas)