‘No shore leave’ policy up for Pinoy seafarers passing through Ebola-hit countries
The Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) is implementing a “no shore leave” policy for Filipino seafarers sailing in Ebola-hit West African countries.
“Hindi sila pwede bumaba for a brief period of time,” said POEA OFW Health Concerns director Nini Lanto in a report on “24 Oras” Tuesday evening.
She said recruitment firms who will be deploying Filipino seafarers to countries with high number of reported Ebola cases should inform the POEA about it.
Meanwhile, the government has formed an inter-agency task force composed of the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to beef up its campaign against the entry of the dreaded Ebola virus in the country.
The DFA has earlier raised Crisis Alert Level 2 in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the three countries where Ebola virus outbreak has been recorded. Imposition of the Crisis Alert Level 2 means that processing and deployment of OFWs in these countries are temporarily suspended.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that under Crisis Alert Level 2, “all the licensed recruitment agencies that have deployed workers to these countries are to ensure their workers' immediate repatriation, with all those who will be repatriated administered Ebola Virus Test at no expense to the workers.”
According to the record of the DFA, there are more or less 4,000 Filipinos in these three West African countries – 880 in Guinea, 632 in Liberia and 1,979 in Sierra Leone, plus about 2,000 undocumented OFWs.
DFA's appeal
The DFA called on the OFWs, even the undocumented ones, to report to the Philippine embassy if they are experiencing Ebola virus symptoms such as fever and cough.
“Unahin po natin ang ating kalusugan. Ang ating kabuhayan mahahanap natin yan somewhere or another, pero yung buhay natin nag iisa lang yan, hindi na po maibabalik yan,” said DFA Office of Migrant Workers special assistant Lorenzo Jungco.
So far, no Filipino has been confirmed positive for the virus, but the DOH is monitoring seven of the 15 OFWs who recently arrived from Sierra Leone.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona, meanwhile, appealed on the OFWs returning to the country to answer the Bureau of Immigration's “Health Checklist” questionnaire honestly.
“Dapat ilagay nila ang tama, dahil ang atin namang intention dito is matulungan sila, so why will you lie?” he said.
PHL prepared vs. Ebola
Ona said the government is prepared in case a Filipino turned positive for the virus, saying that there are medical facilities in the country with isolation rooms and equipment that can contain contagious diseases such as Ebola virus.
Ona cited as example the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang, which has six negative pressure rooms to isolate persons infected with the virus.
Each negative room has its own ventilation system that filters the air to avoid the spread of the disease.
“Pag na-filter na siya, hindi na lalabas sa environment. That's the purpose of the negative pressure room,” said RITM director Socorro Lupisan.
The RITM also has the facility for conducting the Enzyme-linked imunosorbent assay (ELISA) test that can detect viruses in human body, such as the Ebola.
Results of ELISA test can be known within two days. —Elizabeth Marcelo/KBK, GMA News
“Hindi sila pwede bumaba for a brief period of time,” said POEA OFW Health Concerns director Nini Lanto in a report on “24 Oras” Tuesday evening.
She said recruitment firms who will be deploying Filipino seafarers to countries with high number of reported Ebola cases should inform the POEA about it.
Meanwhile, the government has formed an inter-agency task force composed of the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to beef up its campaign against the entry of the dreaded Ebola virus in the country.
The DFA has earlier raised Crisis Alert Level 2 in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the three countries where Ebola virus outbreak has been recorded. Imposition of the Crisis Alert Level 2 means that processing and deployment of OFWs in these countries are temporarily suspended.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that under Crisis Alert Level 2, “all the licensed recruitment agencies that have deployed workers to these countries are to ensure their workers' immediate repatriation, with all those who will be repatriated administered Ebola Virus Test at no expense to the workers.”
According to the record of the DFA, there are more or less 4,000 Filipinos in these three West African countries – 880 in Guinea, 632 in Liberia and 1,979 in Sierra Leone, plus about 2,000 undocumented OFWs.
DFA's appeal
The DFA called on the OFWs, even the undocumented ones, to report to the Philippine embassy if they are experiencing Ebola virus symptoms such as fever and cough.
“Unahin po natin ang ating kalusugan. Ang ating kabuhayan mahahanap natin yan somewhere or another, pero yung buhay natin nag iisa lang yan, hindi na po maibabalik yan,” said DFA Office of Migrant Workers special assistant Lorenzo Jungco.
So far, no Filipino has been confirmed positive for the virus, but the DOH is monitoring seven of the 15 OFWs who recently arrived from Sierra Leone.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona, meanwhile, appealed on the OFWs returning to the country to answer the Bureau of Immigration's “Health Checklist” questionnaire honestly.
“Dapat ilagay nila ang tama, dahil ang atin namang intention dito is matulungan sila, so why will you lie?” he said.
PHL prepared vs. Ebola
Ona said the government is prepared in case a Filipino turned positive for the virus, saying that there are medical facilities in the country with isolation rooms and equipment that can contain contagious diseases such as Ebola virus.
Ona cited as example the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang, which has six negative pressure rooms to isolate persons infected with the virus.
Each negative room has its own ventilation system that filters the air to avoid the spread of the disease.
“Pag na-filter na siya, hindi na lalabas sa environment. That's the purpose of the negative pressure room,” said RITM director Socorro Lupisan.
The RITM also has the facility for conducting the Enzyme-linked imunosorbent assay (ELISA) test that can detect viruses in human body, such as the Ebola.
Results of ELISA test can be known within two days. —Elizabeth Marcelo/KBK, GMA News
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