COVID-19 claims 3rd Filipino abroad

A third Filipino overseas has died from the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Thursday.

A DFA data summary showed the latest Filipino COVID-19 fatality abroad died in a country in Europe, but did not specify the country.

The first fatality died in Europe on March 24, while a second died in a country in the Asia-Pacific region on March 25.

As of Thursday, the number of Filipinos who tested positive jumped to 203 in 26 countries, from 169 in 25 countries as of Wednesday.

Among those infected, the number of Filipinos who have recovered rose to 107 from 90 as of Wednesday.

The number of those undergoing treatment rose to 93 from Wednesday’s 77.

The DFA started releasing on March 24 a summary of confirmed COVID-19 cases among Filipinos abroad, after the family of foreign relations expert Alan Ortiz announced that he passed away in France due to complications from COVID-19.

The DFA reported cases per region without providing a breakdown of cases per country.

As of March 26, the number of infected Filipinos in the Asia-Pacific region rose to 115 from the previous day’s tally of 111. The vast majority of 86 have already recovered, while 28 are still under treatment and one has died.

These include the 80 crew members of the MV Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

In Europe, the number of virus-positive Filipinos rose to 43 from the previous day’s tally of 20. Thirty-six of them are undergoing treatment while so far five have recovered and two have died.

In the Middle East, the number of confirmed patients among Filipinos increased to 23 from the previous day’s record of 18. Two have been discharged.

In the Americas, the number of COVID-19 positive Filipinos rose to 22 from the previous day’s 20 (including 16 crew members of the MV Grand Princess). The DFA said 14 of them have recovered while eight remain under treatment.

Repatriated from Kuwait

A total of 253 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were airlifted from Kuwait amid the lockdown in the Philippines and Kuwait due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office arranged a humanitarian flight that left Kuwait on Wednesday and arrived here on Thursday.

The 253 OFWs were from Talha Deportation Center, Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) Expatriate Shelter and the Embassy-run shelter.

Philippine Consul General to Kuwait Mohd. Noordin Lomondot thanked Kuwaiti authorities for fast-tracking repatriation procedures. He also thanked Kuwait Airways.

The repatriates are composed of 179 distressed domestic workers; 39 former detainees at Talha Deportation Center, Sulaibiya Central Jail and other detention facilities in Kuwait; 34 walk-in PAM clients who encountered employment-related problems; and one infant.