About 230 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have completed their mandatory 14-day quarantine period were released from an isolation facility at the Philipine Army's Fort Magsaysay in Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija on Tuesday.
The send off ceremony was witnessed by officials from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 led by chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr.
During the send off, Galvez noted the vital role of the converted isolation facility in the government’s COVID-19 response efforts.
"Our testing efforts should always go hand-in-hand with isolation and treatment," he said.
The isolation facility, called Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, was originally built as a drug rehabilitation center inside Fort Magsaysay in 2016.
It was converted as an isolation center with more than 500 beds in July, 2020, to cater to mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.
A total of 478 beds are allocated for COVID-19 patients while 44 beds are being used by medical staff assigned to the facility.
According to Galvez, patients under quarantine in the facility receive 24/7 medical care, free meals, and free Wi-Fi connection.
"Facilities like these allow our kababayans to get well, go home safely to their loved ones, and be able to return to their jobs overseas, if they so choose," he stated.
More than 174,000 OFWs have been repatriated since April, 2020, after they lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.