By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: Kuwait requires that all people traveling from the Philippines must produce a health certificate confirming that they are free from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This certificate is known as the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). This however will most likely create a bottle neck for those planning to come to Kuwait and for those hoping to travel back to the Philippines any time soon. As there is only one available testing center for the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in the Philippines - the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

According to the instructions from the Directorate General Civil Aviation in Kuwait all passengers from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Georgia and Lebanon are obliged to obtain a PCR-certificate confirming they are free from COVID-19 before boarding a plane coming to Kuwait. Absence of the said certificate will result in deportation on the same carrier airline that brought them.

"If they really implement that, it is a difficult task for those who are on vacation, or newly-hired workers because what we have here is a single laboratory and per instructions, the people who can be allowed a PCR-test are those persons under investigation. If they are not, they cannot carry out the test," said a doctor who spoke to Kuwait Times on the condition of anonymity since he is not authorized to speak for the Philippines Ministry of health.

He works with San Lazaro Hospital, also an Infectious Diseases Specialized Hospital in Manila. "The test is being conducted free of charge but only to people who are suspected of carrying an infectious disease such as coronavirus or AIDS," the doctor mentioned. The new travel restrictions will be carried out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation starting March 8, 2020.

From the time the regulation circulated on social media, many Filipinos turned to a so-called list of accredited medical health facilities in the Philippines, which went viral on social media platforms and mentioned clinics where people could visit and allegedly get the certificate from. Only yesterday morning however that the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait came out with an advisory telling Filipinos that it has not received any official information from the Kuwaiti government regarding the list of health clinics.

"The Filipino Community in Kuwait is informed about the alleged list of Philippine health centers that has been circulating on social media. This list is unconfirmed and unverified. The embassy continues to be in touch with the Kuwait government regarding this matter," the advisory reads.

There are thousands of Filipinos arriving in Kuwait from the Philippines almost every day. To date, the Filipino population in Kuwait numbers around 250,000. The Philippines Embassy encourages Filipinos to get the verified advisories and updates about COVID-19 from the embassy's social media account: www.facebook.com/PHinKuwait, Twitter: www.twitter.com/PHinKuwait.