The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has prepared a rapid response team on standby to augment its operations amidst a surge in the number of its officers affected by Covid-19.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente stated that he has issued a directive for 155 immigration officers and acting immigration officers to provide support and temporarily render duties at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Clark International Airport (CIA).
“These back-up officers will serve as augmentation to render primary inspection duties as some of our frontliners are on quarantine and battling Covid-19,” said Morente.
The augmentation team is composed of officers and acting immigration officers assigned in different back-end offices of its Port Operations Division (POD) as well as its main office and other offices in the metro.
As of Thursday, the BI recorded a total of 158 Covid-positive employees assigned at the POD, 132 of which are assigned at the NAIA, while 14 are assigned in CIA.
Their NAIA operations also recorded a total of 180 officers in quarantine for being exposed to Covid-positive cases.
BI readies more than 100 officers as augmentation team to support airport ops
“We are keeping our augmentation team on standby to be deployed immediately if the number of officers affected rises further,” said Morente.
Morente shared that their office provides swabbing through their Medical and Dental Section for its employees, as well as Covid-19 vaccines, boosters, and Pneumococcal vaccines.
“We have a Covid Task Force in charge of crafting proactive measures to fight this virus, as well as ensure that protocols are strictly implemented,” he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) in the Philippines has recorded 3.01 million COVID-19 recoveries since the deadly disease entered the country in 2020.
This is the statement of the DOH, Friday, in conjunction with the increase of the total COVID-19 cases in the Philippines to 3.35 million.
“Sa kabuuang bilang ng mga naitalang kaso sa bansa, 8.7% (291,618) ang aktibong kaso, 89.7% (3,012,156) na ang gumaling, at 1.59% (53,309) ang namatay,” DOH said in a statement.
“Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 16,385 na [bagong] gumaling at 156 na [bagong] pumanaw,” it added.
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.