THE Malacañang on Monday said 28 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Hong Kong got sick with Covid-19 amid the latest wave of infections in the Chinese-ruled city received
P10,000-worth of cash aid, food packs, hygiene kits, and power banks from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.
“In addition to this, our POLO coordinated with a non-government organization to provide an isolation facility to accommodate several of our OFW,” Nograles said.
“It also coordinated with the HK Labour Department, which set up an isolation facility for our kababayans, pending admission to the quarantine facility, apart from providing transportation arrangements,” he added.
Of the 28 Covid-stricken Filipinos as of Saturday, five have recovered and have returned to their respective employers, Nograles said.
The Palace official made the assurance amid reports that a number of Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong had been fired by their employers after contracting Covid-19.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III also belied such reports, saying all OFW who got infected with Covid-19 in the global financial hub were monitored by the POLO and the Philippine Consulate General (PCG).
The PCG also said employers firing Filipino workers on account of contracting Covid-19 would be “blacklisted” by the government.
Hong Kong is currently grappling with an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant, with medical experts warning that the city could see 28,000 daily infections by the end of March.
Despite the latest surge, coronavirus-related fatalities remain far less than other similar-sized cities, which officials had attributed to high vaccination rates in the city.
Hong Kong has so far reported 24,000 infections since the pandemic began. Of these, only 200 people died.
