PH embassy advises OFWs in Jordan to ignore ‘coronavirus’ verbal taunts

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – In the midst of the global COVID-19 scare, the Philippine embassy in Jordan has advised around 39,000 Filipinos in that country to refrain from replying to verbal taunts related to the novel coronavirus.

“The Embassy advises all Filipino nationals to instead refrain [from] replying to these taunts and avoid any further verbal engagements in the spirit of understanding and unity with the people of Jordan as preventive measures are implemented to address this issue,” the embassy said in its advisory issued on Monday, March 9. 

The embassy also cited the assistance it has given to local authorities in the Filipino translation of an Arabic brochure detailing preventive measures and health guidelines to minimize COVID-19 infections in the workplace.

Consul General Ferdinand Flores told Rappler that one of their embassy staff experienced being taunted with “Corona! Corona!” 

“Our own staff experienced it last weekend,” Flores said.

When asked, Flores said those who taunted the embassy staff did not outrightly refer to them as carriers of the new virus.

Flores said the embassy staff’s experience prompted concerns that other Filipinos in Jordan were being subjected to the same kind of attack.

The advisory, he explained, was meant to put things into perspective and tell the community how to properly address such situations.

Flores said Jordan has one coronavirus case.

Elsewhere across the Middle East, Iran has the most number of cases at 5,823 followed by Kuwait at 62; Bahrain at 56; Iraq, 54; Egypt at 48; the UAE at 45; Qatar at 12; and Saudi Arabia, 7. This, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) situation report 48 issued yesterday, March 8.

Flores said Filipinos in Jordan are employed in the skilled sectors and as household service workers (HSWs), but most belong the latter category.

There have been reports about Filipinos being discriminated against in Italy after being mistaken to be Chinese. Italy has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Europe at 5,883.

There were also reports that other Asians have experienced physical and verbal attacks in the United States and in the United Kingdom. – Rappler.com