SWEEPER FLIGHTS. Hundreds of locally stranded individuals and returning overseas Filipinos continue to arrive in Negros Oriental via commercial sweeper flights. Amid the Covid-19 threat in the country, returning residents are allowed in the province provided they comply with the proper health protocols. (PNA file photo courtesy of Bebsy Colaljo Lamis/Provincial Tourism Unit)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Hundreds of locally-stranded individuals (LSIs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have returned to or departed from Negros Oriental on board sweeper flights via the Dumaguete-Sibulan airport in July.
Mark Diamaoden, airport manager and chief of the local Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), said the Philippine Airlines sweeper flights ferried the LSIs and OFWs on separate aircraft on July 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8, and more are coming on different dates until the end of this month.
The flights for the LSIs usually arrive at 9:40 a.m. while the OFWs usually around midnight onwards, he said.
As of July 8, a total of 183 adult LSIs and six infants arrived here, while 348 adult LSIs and three infants had departed the province.
Meanwhile, a total of 73 OFWs with one infant arrived here, but none had left on the return flights.
Efforts continue here to facilitate the arrival and departure of LSIs and OFWs even as Gov. Roel Degamo has asked the airlines and the shipping companies to space out the arrivals so as not to overwhelm the receiving local government units (LGUs) and the front-liners who are involved in efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
These individuals have to pass through the documentation process, especially for the arrivals, who have to be received by their LGUs.
The returning individuals are either subjected to the mandatory 14-day quarantine at a patient care center in the LGU or are allowed home quarantine.
OFWs, meanwhile, are asked to stay at an accredited hotel for a certain number of days before they are released to their LGUs where they can continue their quarantine at home. (PNA)
