DFA repatriates nearly 8k OFWs, tallies 15 new COVID-19 cases abroad

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs successfully repatriated 7,928 overseas Filipino workers this week reaching a total of 59,041 individuals, the agency announced Saturday.

Most of the recent repatriates are from Barbados, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates with 31,688 of them working sea-based jobs while the remaining 27,353 having land-based careers.

Of those repatriated this week, 2,055 came from Saudi Arabia after the DFA facilitated seven flights from the Gulf state while six flights from UAE brought home 1,526 Filipinos.

The DFA also chartered a special flight to bring home 300 OFWs from Qatar on June 25 while also working in close relation with the governments of Papua New Guinea and Myanmar to repatriate 170 stranded Filipinos from the two countries.

DFA Brings Home 7,928 Overseas Filipinos this Week, Hits the 59K-Mark in COVID-19 Repatriations: https://t.co/dovUpZgklN pic.twitter.com/thiooS13NP

— DFA Philippines 🇵🇭 (@DFAPHL) June 27, 2020

Meanwhile, the DFA recorded 15 more Filipinos getting infected with COVID-19 “with only five countries in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe reporting on the status of our people abroad today.”

There are now 8,432 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Filipinos living abroad while the number of recoveries and deaths remained at 5,081 and 536, respectively.

“The DFA continues to keep track of the status of Filipinos living abroad and work to safely repatriate more of our stranded nationals home as we keep on this fight against this pandemic,” said the DFA.