Three UNISON nurses stranded in the Philippines

Mignun Kim Mier (Kim), Mareter Gabi and Aileen Arancon are three nurses who work for the NHS in Newcastle. Since the beginning of March, the coronavirus outbreak has left them stranded in the Philippines and they haven’t been able to come home. On 9 March, Kim, Mareter and Aileen travelled to the Philippines together for Kim’s wedding. Three days after they had landed, the government cancelled all weddings and public gatherings. Then, five days later, all flights out of the country were suspended for two weeks. The women made two attempts to find flight connections to get back to the UK, but as the Philippines extended lockdown and banned all health workers from leaving the country, both journeys ended up cancelled. After more failed attempts and wasted flight tickets, Kim contacted the British embassy in Manila to see if they could help. The British embassy replied to say they had organised a repatriation flight from Manila to the UK on the 15 April, but for British nationals and permanent residents only. Kim was told that they would not be permitted onboard. With no commercial flights running, the three women were stuck. Kim, Mareter and Aileen have lived in the UK and worked for the NHS since October 2017. The three women also live together. Kim, who works in an emergency eye department in a Newcastle hospital, feels terrible about not being able to use her skills in the pandemic: “I feel so, so guilty knowing that my team are working so hard, that they need me, an...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Article coronavirus Covid-19 health nurses Source Type: news