
MANILA – Malacañang announced on Friday that travelers from India and nine other countries remain restricted from entering the Philippines until the end of August.
This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte extended the travel restrictions imposed on travelers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force to extend the current travel restrictions in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia from August 16 to August 31, 2021,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.
The travel prohibition was extended in response to the threat posed by the more infectious Delta coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) variant, which was originally discovered in India.
After reporting an additional 177 cases of the highly transmissible Covid-19 variant, the Philippines has reported a total of 627 cases of Delta coronavirus variant.
Out of these new cases, 154 are local cases, three are returning overseas Filipinos, and 30 others are still being validated.
Around 90 of the country’s 144 local cases of Delta variant have indicated a residence in Metro Manila, with another 25 in Calabarzon, 16 in Cagayan Valley, eight in Ilocos Region, two each in the Cordillera Administrative Region and Western Visayas, and one in Davao Region.
In an attempt to limit the spread of the Delta variant in the country, Duterte has ordered to enforce enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the most stringent quarantine classification, in some locations, including Metro Manila.
According to the Department of Health, the effects of ECQ will take some time to be reflected in case statistics, and an increase in the number of cases is still expected in the following days.
The Delta variant, which causes current outbreaks in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, has been discovered to be 60% more infectious than the Alpha variant, infecting five to eight people.
Resumption of int’l transit hub operations
Meanwhile, according to Roque, the IATF-EID has granted the airlines’ request to resume international transit hub operations.
“These international transit hub operations shall be limited to airside transfers between Terminals 1 and 2, and within Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and further limited for countries/jurisdictions/territories in the Green List,” Roque, also acting as IATF-EID spokesperson, said.
Roque said that regulations for the controlled movement of passengers as well as health and safety protocols within the airports must be strictly followed.
Any tourist who shows symptoms should follow isolation and quarantine protocols, which should be paid for by the sponsoring airlines, according to Roque. “Having said this, the IATF directed the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Bureau of Quarantine, and the Bureau of Immigration to formulate the necessary protocols for the issuance of appropriate visas applicable on a case-to-case basis,” he said.