PH embassy in India closed until May 17; Filipinos urged to stay home amid COVID surge
Healthworkers wearing personal protective equipments (PPE) walk ahead of an ambulance transporting the body of a person who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during his funeral at a graveyard in New Delhi, India, April 27, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Embassy in India will be closed until May 17 in compliance with the India government’s lockdown imposition amid the rise in COVID-19 cases in the South Asian country, according to Manila’s top envoy there.
According to Philippine Ambassador Ramon Bagatsing Jr., embassy personnel have been working from home, while the embassy will be closed for several days.
“We have closed the embassy since about 10 days ago because may order na lockdown ang Indian government. Lalo na dito sa New Delhi, the local government ordered a lockdown,” he said in an interview over Teleradyo.
“So sinarado natin ang embassy in compliance with the orders of the local government as most other embassies have done and we will extend the lockdown up to May 17,” he added.
Bagatsing earlier reported that two overseas Filipino workers in India died due to COVID-19 while 20 others have been infected with the virus.
As of June 2020, there are 1,319 Filipinos in the South Asian nation, Bagatsing said, citing records from India’s immigration office.
The ambassador, meanwhile, advised Filipinos in India to stay at home and follow safety protocols.
“Nabigla ang India sa double mutant variant. It’s highly dangerous, highly deadly… I think in one or two weeks time they’ll be able to go back to par again with what happened before this spike of about 200,000 case-rate,” he added, noting that India was logging around 10,000 daily infections before the spike in cases.
“We hope in one or two weeks time this will all be over. Mag-ingat tayong lahat. We cannot underestimate this virus,” he added.
Bagatsing also shared that he already got inoculated against COVID-19, with India opening up vaccinations for those who are 45 years old and above.
“Regardless kung ikaw ay Indian citizen o hindi, they opened up. Then starting May 1, 18 years old and above,” he noted.
He said the 145 million Indians have so far been vaccinated, roughly 10 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion population.
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