MANILA – A total of 14,843 hotel rooms across Metro Manila are available for use of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and select guests amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Wednesday.
Based on latest data it released, DOT said 150 hotels around the region have been allowed to operate during the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ). These hotels account for a total of 53,413 rooms, with around 72.2 percent or 38,570 of which are occupied.
The DOT said the hotels are accommodating a total of 17,479 OFWs, including 11,658 business process outsourcing (BPO) workers, 6,088 long-staying guests, 1,128 healthcare workers, 230 transit foreigners, and other front-liners.
Since the coronavirus outbreak, more than 29,000 overseas Filipinos returned to the Philippines and have undergone facility-based quarantine and testing. Of this number, 19,610 are sea-based while 9,741 are land-based.
More OFWs are expected to arrive as the Department of Foreign Affairs continues its repatriation efforts. (PNA)
