SOME 154 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Dhaka, Bangladesh arrived on Thursday evening, July 15, at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport (Davao International Airport).
In a Facebook post by the Davao City Government, a One-Stop Shop at the airport was set up "to screen, identify, and isolate arriving international passengers to prevent and minimize the spread of Covid-19, and to facilitate and manage the arrival of returning Filipinos."
Bangladesh is among the seven countries covered by travel restrictions imposed by the government to prevent the further spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of Sars-CoV-2, which was first detected in India.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duuterte-Carpio confirmed in a radio interview on Monday, July 12, 2021, the arrival of a direct flight carrying stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Duterte-Carpio said around 350 OFWs from Dubai are expected to arrive in the city.
The mayor assured the public that repatriated passengers will undergo a “bubble” arrival process and strict health protocols will be applied for passengers.
This is in response to some fears of a potential surge of Covid-19 cases in the city, following the recent acceptance of repatriation flights outside the country.
"They will be wrapped in a bubble, they will be wrapped in a bubble gikan sa (from the) airport padulong sa (towards their) isolation hotel, didto na buhaton ang kinahanglan pag-process sa ila (wherein they will undergo the required process for them),” Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
Meanwhile, City Tourism Operations Office and Airport Monitoring Head Generose Tecson said previously that as of July 9, 2021, a total of 1,079 rooms in 20 hotel establishments have been prepared and inspected by the Department of Tourism as quarantine hotels.
“We prioritized multi-use or quarantine facilities, the Department of Tourism made the inspection and there are protocols followed to qualify,” Tecson said.
Tecson added that a separate identification of areas exclusive for isolation of travelers who tested positive is ongoing.
Travelers who will arrive in the city shall be quarantined for 10 days and will be swabbed on the seventh day.
On June 16, a total of 99 repatriated Filipino seafarers from Fiji arrived at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport (Davao Airport).
Tecson said the recent arrival of the repatriated OFWs served as a welcome development for the hotel industry in the city.