DOLE to resume daily MERS-CoV monitoring of OFWs

The Department of Labor and Employment is resuming its daily monitoring of overseas Filipino workers to check if they may be exposed to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

In a statement Monday, DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said she has ordered the daily monitoring following recent reports that some Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia have been exposed to the virus.

“We have established the Daily Monitoring System on MERS-CoV last April, whereby our POLOs (Philippine Overseas Labor Offices) were required to submit the complete names, addresses in the Philippines, and contact details of vacationing OFWs. We have to re-establish this system,” she said.

Baldoz also instructed the POLOs to undertake measures to ensure OFWs are protected from the potentially deadly virus.

The DOLE has 36 POLOs. Of these, 15 are in the Middle East, 11 in Asia, and 10 in Europe and the Americas.

Baldoz likewise directed POLOs to make representation with health authorities in their posts to strengthen infection control protocols for Filipino healthcare workers.

On the other hand, she ordered them to work with labor and health authorities for Filipino agricultural workers whose jobs require contact with animals.

Meanwhile, Baldoz instructed POLOs to encourage OFWs to undergo MERS-CoV testing, especially those who are about to go on vacation in the Philippines, at least two weeks before travel.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration last April included in the subjects of the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) information on the MERS-CoV. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News

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