Peacekeepers to reunite with families as quarantine ends

MANILA, Philippines - The wait to be reunited with their families will soon be over for 133 Filipino peacekeepers from Ebola-hit Liberia on a 21-day quarantine in Caballo Island.

Lyndon Lee Suy, spokesman for the Department of Health (DOH), said they are confident that none of the peacekeepers, whose quarantine will end on Dec. 3, had contracted the Ebola virus.

Lee Suy said all peacekeepers are in good health and have not shown any sign of infection.

He stressed that the quarantine was an added precautionary measure to keep the Philippines free from the virus.  He said the government does not want to be complacent in dealing with Ebola.

The Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) earlier announced that it is not recommending mandatory quarantine for those returning from Ebola-affected countries.

PSMID cited the guidelines of the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Prevention and Control on Ebola, which does not depend only on the travel history but also a person’s possible contact with infected individuals and symptoms exhibited.

DOLE to check Sierra Leone workplace

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment component in the Rapid Response Team (RRT) to be deployed to Sierra Leone will first assess the situation before coming up with a recommendation on whether to allow the nine vacationing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to return to their workplace, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

DFA officials recently met with the group of vacationing OFWs from Sierra Leone, who have not shown any symptoms of Ebola after being quarantined for 21 days.

The DFA said the OFWs would not be allowed to return to their work if alert level 3 or the total deployment ban is raised.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario urged OFWs to leave Ebola-hit nations in West Africa, adding that anyone who returns to the country would be placed under a 21-day quarantine.

The government issued a voluntary repatriation call to 900 workers in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.  – With Pia Lee-Brago