Pinoys in Austria in good condition, supported by federal gov’t

MANILA – Filipinos in Austria are in good condition despite the spike in the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases across the European state, the Philippine Embassy in Vienna said on Thursday.

Chargé d’Affaires Deena Joy Amatong said Filipino workers who had been affected by the Covid-19 surge-driven lockdown there are also receiving assistance through the Austrian government’s federal jobs program, under which Austria pays part of their wages.

“[K]ami po ay palagi pong nakikipagpanayam sa kanila at kinukumusta naman namin sila kung kumusta na ang kanilang kalagayan. Sa awa naman po ng Diyos, fortunately, ang sinabi naman po sa amin ay maayos naman po ang kanilang kalagayan (We are closely monitoring their situation and, fortunately, they said they are in good condition),” Amatong said in a Laging Handa briefing.

“So, in terms of livelihood, in terms po sa hanapbuhay ay hindi siguro po ganoon kalala, pero siyempre mayroon din po na mangilan-ngilan na naapektuhan na kanilang kabuhayan dahil po sa lockdown at dahil po sa pandemic (in terms of livelihood the impact is not as severe, but of course we still have quite a number of Filipinos affected by the lockdown),” she said.

Most of the Filipinos in Austria are working in different sectors such as hospitality, health, and social work service.

According to Amatong, a national lockdown is currently in place in Austria until December 11.

The European state had also confirmed its first case of Omicron coronavirus variant, a passenger who previously traveled to South Africa.

Austria is currently included in the Philippines’ ‘red list’ which also includes South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Czech Republic, Hungary, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy.

As of this posting, Austria has a total of 135,148 active Covid-19 cases, of which 10,367 were recorded on December 1 alone.