(Eagle News) — Over 300 Filipinos were repatriated from Saudi Arabia, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
According to the DFA, the 347 Filipinos were repatriated from Dammam and Riyadh, as several establishments closed down there amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DFA said of the total number, 16 were pregnant women, nine were minors, including five babies.
There was also one male stretcher case, and one recovering stroke victim.
The group arrived on Monday on a Philippine Airlines flight chartered by the DFA using the Assistance-to-Nationals Fund.
The agency said Philippine Coast Guard administered RT-PCR testing for COVID-19 to the repatriates, who were also briefed on quarantine protocols before they were ferried to facilities for the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Other batches of repatriates from Yangon, Myanmar; Dili, East Timor; and Doha, Qatar are scheduled to arrive this week on chartered flights.
Earlier, the DFA said 157 overseas Filipinos from Macau and Bahrain were repatriated starting Saturday.
The government has said around 42,000 OFWs are scheduled to arrive in the country by June, and may overwhelm quarantine facilities.
