COVID-19: Philippine labour office in Riyadh shuttered as personnel infected

Cairo: As of Sunday, the Philippine overseas labour office in the Saudi capital Riyadh is closed until further notice after infections of the new coronavirus were detected among some of its personnel.

Officials and staff at the office have to undergo quarantine after several of them have recently tested positive for COVID-19, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh said in a statement. It added that the embassy personnel, who had come into contact with the infected employees, will also be quarantined and undergo COVID-19 testing to ensure safety of the transacting public.

"POLO-Riyadh personnel shall continue to respond to calls, offer consultation service to clients and provide counselling to OFWs in distress," the embassy said.

The staff will provide the services to the Filipino community from home to protect the clients and allow all-out disinfection and sterilisation of the office, labour attaché Nasser Moustafa told Saudi online newspaper Sabq.

A total of six staff members tested positive for COVID-19 after 37 personnel of the POLO-Riyadh underwent testing for the virus, Sabq reported.

There are 1 million Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, making it the biggest Filipino community in the Middle East.