At least 4,000 OFWs bound for Hong Kong stranded due to Omicron surge

At least 4,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound for Hong Kong were not able to leave the country due to the Omicron surge, according to Mark Salazar’s “24 Oras” report on Thursday. “Mayroon na silang mga exit pass na prinoseso na ng POEA, ‘yung mga may ticket na at mayroon na ring mga naka-book na quarantine rooms. May mga OFW tayo na dapat ay lilipad na ay inabutan na ng expiration ng kanilang mga visa,” Dolly Uanang, president of Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines (SHARP), said. (They already have exit passes already processed by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), those who already have tickets and also have quarantine rooms booked. We have OFWs who are supposed to go to Hong Kong but their visas expired.) “’Yung mga OEC nila o exit pass nila galing sa POEA ay hindi naman apektado ‘yun dahil kahit three months ang validity noon pwede pa naman nila gamitin ‘yun. Ang problema, ‘yung mga visa nila doon sa Hong Kong ay nagsisimula nang mag-expire,” Uanang said. (Their Overseas Employment Certificates (OECs) or exit passes from POEA are not affected because even if it is only valid for three months, they can still use them. The problem is their visas in Hong Kong are starting to expire.) Over 200,000 Filipinos are currently staying in Hong Kong, according to the Hong Kong Immigration website. Uanang said so far there are no reported OFWs in Hong Kong infected with Omicron COVID-19 variant. “So far, wala pa naman tayong mga kababayan na affected, I mean sa hanay namin sa SHARP. ‘Yung aming mga pinaalis na OFW, wala pa naman kaming feedback na nakukuha na nagkaroon ng Omicron COVID infection. So far, wala naman. Pinag-iingat parin namin sila,” she said. (So far, there were no Filipinos affected, among the members of our organization. Those OFWs who leave, we have not yet received any feedback that they are infected with the Omicron variant. So far, no infection. We advised them to take care of themselves.) Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said there is no decision yet if there will be travel restrictions imposed for those travelers coming from Hong Kong. “Well, depende ‘yan sa gobyerno ng Hong Kong kung sila mismo tingin nila ay dapat magsara sila or mag-adopt sila ng protocols nila rerespetuhin natin yon. So far, wala pa sa usapan iyan,” Duque said. (Well, it depends on the Hong Kong government if they think they should shut down or they adopt protocols we will respect. So far, it has not been discussed.) Hong Kong's coronavirus battle intensified on Thursday as authorities reported new cases had multiplied by 60 times so far this month and media reported that testing would become compulsory for everyone in the global financial hub from March. Hospitals are overwhelmed with some patients, including elderly, left lying on beds outside amid chilly, sometimes rainy weather, in shocking scenes that prompted an apology from authorities in the Chinese controlled city.—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA News

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