By Roy Mabasa
There are no Filipinos among the nearly 1,500 confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in New Zealand, Philippine Ambassador to Wellington Jesus Domingo said on Tuesday.
“No one was affected among the Filipinos here in terms of the disease. We did not receive any report from the New Zealand government or the Filipino community here,” Domingo said during the phone patch interview at the regular "Laging Handa" briefing of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID).
However, Domingo noted that scores of Filipinos lost their jobs because of the pandemic.
To help the displaced Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), the Embassy, through the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, is now processing applications for the US$200 financial assistance from the Department of Labor and Employment.
The Embassy is also coordinating with the New Zealand authorities regarding the request of other displaced Filipinos for food packs and even places to stay.
Last April 20, the Philippine Embassy coordinated the repatriation of 60 stranded Filipino tourists and students from Auckland to Manila.
Domingo said the Philippine Embassy is accepting online registration of Filipinos who need immediate assistance or repatriation to the Philippines.
The Philippine envoy said the overall COVID-19 situation in New Zealand has significantly improved in the past several weeks as the country prepares to exit from the previous restrictive Level 4 to Level 2 that will allow people, in most cases, to return to work and school.
Domingo cited New Zealand’s laudable management of the pandemic as “one of the world’s best” where the government and the opposition worked together in cooperation with the “kiwis” or the local New Zealanders to limit the spread of the pandemic.
As of May 12, 2020, the global online monitoring platform Worldometer reported that New Zealand has a total of 1,497 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 21 deaths, and 1,398 recoveries.