60 returning OFWs placed under quarantine in GenSan

By Joseph Jubelag GENERAL SANTOS CITY - Some 60 returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were placed under strict mandatory quarantine shortly after their arrival here on Monday after being stranded in Manila. Dr. Lalaine Calonzo, assisistant city health officer, said the newly-arrived OFWs were immediately taken to the quarantine facilities in pension houses arranged by the city government. The overseas workers mostly coming from Middle East arrived aboard a sweeper flight of Air Asia. Calonzo stressed that the returning OFW mostly were not admitted in the isolation facility inside the Philippine Air Force station in Barangay Buayan which caters to COVID-19 patients. “We will not allow our stranded workers and residents to undergo the 14-day quarantine at the COVID-19 isolation facility,” Calonzo said. She said local health authorities opted to isolate the newly-arrived OFWs and residents in pension houses for their convenience. She said local health authorities are determined to implement strict health protocols for returning OFWs and residents to ensure that the city maintains its zero coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) status.