The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said that it will be suspending its deployment to Jordan of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

POEA cited the “pandemic situation in Jordan, which poses health, safety and labor risks to new workers.”

The advisory, according to Business World, comes after the recommendation of Philippine Ambassador to Jordan Akmad Atlah Sakkam.

Exemptions would apply to workers directly hired by the Royal Hashemite Court, international organizations and the diplomatic corps.

Workers with contracts before March 15 are also exempted from the deployment ban.

So far there are 257,000 coronavirus cases in Jordan with 3,335 deaths.