Fully vaccinated inbound travelers coming from around 60 “green” countries and jurisdictions will now be accorded with a shortened quarantine period.
Starting on Thursday, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) reduced the facility quarantine period of travelers, who were vaccinated abroad and originating exclusively from green areas in the past 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines from the average 10 days to just 7 days.
Green countries are those classified by the Department of Health (DOH) as “low risk” based on its disease incidence.
These countries include Albania, American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Benin, Belize, The British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Eswatini, Falkland Islands, French Polynesia, Gambia, Ghana, Greenland, Grenada, Hong Kong, Iceland, Isle of Man, Israel, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Montserrat, Morocco and Mozambique.
Also declared as green areas are New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Rwanda, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Singapore, Sint Eustatius, South Korea, Taiwan, Togo, Turks and Caicos Islands (UK), Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.
Also qualified for the shortened quarantine facility stay are travelers who were fully vaccinated in the country in the Philippines once they present the necessary documentation.
Meanwhile, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the IATF also clarified that the option of presenting Philippine Overseas Labor Office validation as proof of vaccination status is exclusive to overseas Filipino workers.
“The POLOs shall start accepting applications for validation starting July 5, 2021,” Roque said.
Roque added OFWs who can present International Certificates of Vaccination may use the green lanes for their processing beginning July 1, 2021, provided they comply with other requirements.