Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia (left) and DOH-7 chief pathologist and Covid-19 spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche. (File photo)
CEBU CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) in Region 7 (Central Visayas) will make sure that President Rodrigo Duterte’s order on arrival protocols for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and returning overseas Filipinos will be implemented at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
“With the order of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, we will obey as good citizens of this country,” Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, DOH-7 chief pathologist, said in a message to the media on Tuesday.
Loreche was referring to the directive of Duterte on Monday, stating that Cebu province must abide by the arrival protocols of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Duterte’s directive was announced by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in a virtual presser after Malacañang’s order to divert all international flights from MCIA to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City expired on June 12.
Loreche, who is also the regional Covid-19 spokesperson, said the DOH-7 officials will be meeting with Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to discuss Duterte’s order.
Before the presidential directive, Cebu implemented a different set of protocols for returning Filipinos, which includes two reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests within a week and a strict home quarantine due to limited isolation facilities in the province.
With the resolutions of 19 local government units (LGUs) expressing support to Garcia’s Executive Order No. 17, the provincial government pleaded to revert to the swab upon arrival protocol for OFWs and ROFs.
But on May 27, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea issued a memorandum directing the diversion of international flights from MCIA to NAIA from May 29 to June 5 to ensure the proper implementation of the testing and quarantine protocols by the IATF on returning Filipinos in the province.
On June 5, Medialdea issued another memorandum extending the flight diversion until June 12, to ensure that IATF policy on swabbing and quarantine will be followed after June 13.
However, Loreche said the testing and quarantine protocols for the OFWs and ROFs in Cebu were crafted after a thorough and diligent review of on the ground data and community preparedness.
“It does not in anyway contradict the IATF guidelines. The test upon arrival and a repeat on day 7 further strengthen the safety measures. The mandatory 10-day quarantine is being followed, but instead of the whole 10 days in the hotel facility, OFW and ROF with a negative first swab result are allowed to continue the remaining days of quarantine either in their homes or in the LGU identified facility,” Loreche said.
She said the innovative protocol at the MCIA and the province's modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) status for 10 months have been “a testament of a committed community response that has been in place since last year.” (PNA)
