By: Margaret Padilla
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Hans Leo Cacdac, the administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), confirmed to TeleRadyo on Tuesday that assistance will be distributed to overseas Filipino workers affected by this week’s COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, China.
“We can distribute food because that is the greatest need right now, he said.
When the Chinese government imposed a citywide lockdown in China’s major financial center due to a zero-tolerance approach to pandemic management, unprepared Filipino workers in Shanghai began to cry out for help.
According to Business Mirror, approximately 4,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) live and work in Shanghai.
China reported 3,529 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday and 22,626 new asymptomatic cases on Saturday, the majority of which occurred in Shanghai.
Many Chinese residents and foreigners in Shanghai were frustrated as the city entered its third week of complete lockdown due to difficulties sourcing food, medicine, and other essential supplies that come with strict control of people’s movement.
In an interview with ANC News, a Filipina revealed that they quickly ran out of food due to their lack of preparation, forcing them to ration what they had.
Another OFW working in a restaurant told ABS CBN News that he requested that the Philippine government expedite the delivery of assistance.
“I hope the assistance will be expedited because we haven’t been to work for almost a month and then no work, no pay, so that’s what we’re worried about,” he said.
Meanwhile, Consul General Josel Ignacio confirmed that the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai had also been placed under lockdown. The office staff was also confined to their homes.
“It’s a difficult lockdown. We’ve been dealing with a flood of such inquiries or requests for assistance. “We do our best to assist, and we make every effort to respond to each one,” Ignacio explained.