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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Locsin directs DFA to prepare 'profile' of Filipinos in India amid humanitarian crisis due to COVID-19 surge

Locsin directs DFA to prepare 'profile' of Filipinos in India amid humanitarian crisis due to COVID-19 surge

Published Apr 30, 2021 10:14 am

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Friday directed his department to prepare a profile of the Filipino community in India for possible contingency measures as the number of coronavirus cases in the South Asian nation continue to rise rapidly in unprecedented numbers.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. (DFA)

Locsin made this directive following reports that 30 more Filipinos have tested positive for COVID-19.

From the initial 20 confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases among Filipinos in India reported Tuesday, the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi recorded another 20 in the past two days, bringing the total number of coronavirus infections to 50.

“@DFAPHL do we have a profile of Filipinos in India: what they do there, their circumstances, etc., we should have it. We can’t repatriate them but we can’t leave them unprotected,” Locsin said in a tweet.

On Wednesday, Philippine Ambassador to India Ramon Bagatsing Jr. reported that two Filipinos died due to COVID-19 while 20 others tested positive and were brought to the hospital and isolation centers.

The latest surge prompted the Philippine Embassy to temporarily close until May 17 in compliance with the India government's imposition of lockdown.

The United States-based research center Johns Hopkins University earlier said India is currently facing a “massive COVID-fueled humanitarian catastrophe” with more than 300,000 new COVID-19 infections recorded in the past seven consecutive days.

India has a total of 18,754,984 confirmed cases, with 208,313 deaths and 15,373,765 recoveries, according to the latest tally of online COVID-19 monitoring platform, Worldometers,

There are more or less 3,000 Filipinos in India, the majority of whom are housewives while the others are overseas workers, teachers, students, and religious workers.

Related Tags

Filipinos india covid-19 humanitarian crisis Department of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr.
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