Overseas Filipinos, including Filipino migrant workers outside the Philippines, have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 1, 2021, there have been 19,765 confirmed COVID-19 cases of Filipino citizens residing outside the Philippines with 12,037 recoveries and 1,194 deaths. The official count from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the cases of overseas Filipinos is not included in the national tally of the Philippine government. Repatriates on the other hand are included in the national tally of the Department of Health (DOH) but are listed separately from regional counts.
Background
The DFA provides information regarding the number of Filipino nationals abroad to have contracted COVID-19 and keeps an official tally of confirmed cases by region instead of by country. This count is not included in the national tally of cases provided by the DOH.
The DFA collects information regarding the Filipino nationals with COVID-19 from its diplomatic posts abroad which in turn rely information from the patients themselves, their relatives and Filipino expatriate communities. Efforts to collect and disseminate data by the DFA is hampered due to the prohibition of classifying patients by nationality in some countries as well as requests by some Filipino patients for strict confidentiality regarding their situation. A small number of the DFA's COVID-19 tally has been verified by the Department of Health International Health Regulations (DOH-IHR).
The first confirmed case of a Filipino national outside the Philippines was announced by the DFA on February 5, 2020. It involves a crew member of the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, Japan.
Cases by region
Asia Pacific
In the Asia Pacific region, outside the Diamond Princess, at least one Filipino case has been confirmed in Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, India, Malaysia, the Maldives, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Following an international tabligh convention held from February 7 to March 1, 2020, at the Jamek Sri Petaling mosque near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the DFA reported that 19 Filipinos who attended the convention tested positive and were quarantined in Malaysia. Two others managed to return to the Philippines and later tested positive by Philippine health authorities.
In Singapore, at least 134 Filipinos tested positive for COVID-19.
In Japan, at least 28 "land-based" Filipinos mostly based in Osaka were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. 121 others Filipinos, who are seafarers of Diamond Princess in docked off the coast of Yokohama and the Costa Atlantica in Osaka also tested positive for COVID-19. No fatality was recorded in Japan as of June 15.
Middle East and Africa
In the Middle East at least one Filipino case has been recorded in Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. One notable case in the region was that of Philippine ambassador to Lebanon, Bernardita Catalla, who died on April 2 in Beirut due to complications from COVID-19 and chronic respiratory problems.
One of the most affected country in the region is Saudi Arabia where at least 119 Filipinos tested positive for COVID-19, and at least five died from the disease. The Philippine embassy in Riyadh's office of labor affairs announced on June 14 its temporarily closure after six of its staff tested positive for COVID-19.
In Kuwait, at least 300 Filipinos were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19, 31 of them have died from the disease. In the United Arab Emirates, at least 40 Filipinos have died from COVID-19 in Dubai alone.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment, there are at least 3,000 Filipino COVID-19 cases in Qatar. This information though was released without clearance from the Philippine embassy in Doha.
Europe
In Europe, at least one Filipino case has been confirmed in France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. On March 23, Philippine Council for Foreign Relations President Alan Ortiz died in Paris, France.
Some Filipinos in Italy were also reported to have contracted COVID-19, although the exact number of cases cannot be disclosed due to privacy law in Italy. In Spain, at least 82 Filipinos tested positive for COVID-19, while six have died from the disease.