The government, through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), will provide US$200 or more than P10,000 cash aid for Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong who tested positive for COVID-19, Malacañang said.
Cabinet secretary and acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles made the announcement on Monday, Feb. 21 as 28 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong were confirmed to have contracted the virus.
The Chinese territory currently struggles in a surge in COVID-19 cases reportedly caused by the Omicron variant.
According to Nograles, of the 28 OFWs who have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Feb. 19, five have already recovered, and three have already returned to their employers.
With this, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Hong Kong has provided an after-care cash aid worth US$200 to those who have already recovered from the dreaded disease.
Aside from financial assistance, Nograles said that the Philippine government has been providing basic needs to COVID-stricken OFWs.
"Our POLO immediately provided them with food, hygiene kits, and power banks to allow them to communicate while waiting for calls from the Center for Health Protection and HK Labour Department," Nograles said.
POLO also coordinated with a non-government organization and the Hong Kong Labour Department to provide an isolation facility for the OFWs, as well as transportation arrangements.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) earlier dismissed reports that OFWs are being retrenched by their employers as Hongkong struggles in the fight against COVID-19.
"So far, there is no report on the termination of OFWs," DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.