DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 May) – A total of 3,635 individuals who had been stranded by the suspension of air, sea and land travels since March have been flown out of Davao City from April 29 to May 28.
Davao International Airport.
Mayor Sara Duterte said during her live interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (87.5) on Thursday that the local government also facilitated the arrival of 2,266 inbound travelers who arrived via land and air travels after being stranded in different parts of the country due to the lockdowns.
The mayor said both inbound and outbound travelers underwent health screening to ensure no passenger was infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
She said the city facilitated the arrivals of two flights on Thursday and three flights on Wednesday carrying returning overseas Filipino workers.
The flights were sponsored by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), she said .
She said the local government anticipated more OWWA-organized flights as she was told that there were more than a thousand passengers arriving.
She said some of the passengers were not residents of Davao but added the local government coordinated with national agencies to receive and assist them in their return to their respective hometowns.
“We continue to receive them, and then our land borders are still doing the health screening for now. And even after quarantine, we will still continue doing the health screening as long as there is no cure or vaccine because we should not lower or vigilance in looking out for those who manifest symptoms,” she said.
From May 6 to May 26, she said 12 plane passengers failed the health screening. Four tested positive for COVID-19 using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction machine while the eight others were awaiting results of the swab test.
As of Thursday, the Department of Health-Davao recorded a total of 277 confirmed COVID-19 positives with no new cases. Of this total, 135 have recovered and 28 have died.
Davao City reported 253 cases, the highest not only in the region but the entire Mindanao. Davao del Norte reported 14, Davao del Sur 3, Davao de Oro 2, Davao Oriental 3, and Davao Occidental 2. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
