POEA wants MERS-CoV tests for returning OFWs from Middle East


Arriving OFWs wear masks vs MERS-CoV
Arriving OFWs wear masks vs MERS-CoV. Overseas Filipino workers arriving at the NAIA Terminal 1 from the Middle East wear surgical masks as protection from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome - corona virus (MERS-CoV) on Wednesday, May 14. Ariel Fernandez

The Philippine Overseas Employment 
Administration wants Filipinos returning from the Middle East to undergo tests for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) before their departure for the Philippines.
 
POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, inAdvisory No. 6 Series of 2014, urged licensed recruitment agencies to facilitate such tests, adding these should be at no cost to the workers.
 
"All licensed recruitment agencies are urged to have their returning/vacationing workers from the Middle East undergo (MERS-CoV) test prior to their departure for the Philippines through the facilitation of their respective employers at no cost to the workers," Cacdac said in the advisory dated May 12.

At least three Filipinos in the Middle East have already died from MERS, a novel virus often referred to as the Middle East’s own version of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and even diarrhea.
 
Human cases of MERS have also been reported in other Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Oman.

Anti-polio vaccinations
 
Meanwhile, Cacdac advised overseas Filipino workers to get anti-polio vaccinations before they leave the Philippines for their respective job sites.
 
This is after a polio outbreak in 10 countries, he said. A report on UK's The Independent said recent polio cases had been "exported" from Pakistan, Cameroon, and Syria.
 
The Independent added wild poliovirus was also found in Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and Nigeria.
 
Cacdac said OFWs can get their vaccinations at hospitals or clinics accredited by the Department of Health. — Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News

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