A total of 163 Filipino workers who were stranded in Macau due to the COVID-19 travel ban are now back in the Philippines.
The Philippines had arranged a special flight to bring the Filipino workers from Macau on Saturday, CNN Philippines quoted the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila as saying.
They arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 4:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon aboard the special Air Macau flight.
According to Saturday’s report by CNN Philippines Staff, the DFA said 137 of the returnees were “undocumented and irregular” Filipino workers, while the remainder were documented employees.
The workers, who were left stranded after travel restrictions were imposed by the Philippine government on the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), “will be flown back via a special Air Macau flight,” the report said.
The report also quoted the DFA as saying that only those without symptoms of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) “will be allowed to board the plane …, but if any of them show signs of the COVID-19, they will immediately be referred for hospital care to undergo treatment and tests.”
The report pointed out that flights to and from Macau have been suspended since early last month amid the Philippines’ travel ban on mainland China and its two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
Filipinos and their foreign spouses or children, as well as holders of diplomatic visas can enter the Philippines, but they are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
The evacuation flight could not immediately be confirmed locally.
Over 33,000 Philippine nationals live in Macau, making them the city’s biggest foreign community.
Macau had a population of 679,600 at the end of last year, according to the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC).
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
PHOTO © Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
