The Department of Health (DOH) announced that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from countries with low to mid risk COVID-19 cases will no longer undergo swab test and mandatory quarantine when they arrive in the Philippines.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a virtual press briefing, said it applies to asymptomatic OFWs from low-mid risk prevalence of COVID-19 only.

She also stressed that OFWs must still comply with the safety protocols in place (including COVID-19 testing and quarantine) in their respective provinces.

“We are rationalizing actually not just the resources but also protocols that we do. If you would notice in the previous protocol that we have, we would be testing OFWs when they arrive. Once they test negative, we send them to their provinces,” she said. “But whatever the local governments would require for them to enter into their province, they have to comply.”

As per the Omnibus Guidelines for Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment and Reintegration Strategies for COVID-19 released this month, “If they (returning Filipinos) are from a low or mid prevalence country and asymptomatic, they shall not be required to undergo quarantine and testing at points of entry or upon arrival to their localities of destination, provided strict adherence to minimum public health standards and symptoms monitoring.”

The new guidelines will also be applicable to foreigners who have residence visas to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, those coming from countries with high prevalence of COVID-19 cases, whether asymptomatic or not, will still need to undergo mandatory RT-PCR testing, and will only be allowed to go home once they tested negative for the virus.

The health department has yet to come up with a list of countries considered as ‘high-risk’ or ‘low-risk’ for coronavirus disease.

This move was introduced by the DOH following the announcement of Philippine Red Cross (PRC) that it would stop COVID-19 tests due to delayed payments from Philippine Health Insurance Corp.