The government finally lifted its travel restrictions in 10 countries with confirmed cases of Delta variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Starting next Monday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said international travelers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia will once again be allowed to enter the country.
“International travelers coming from the abovementioned countries shall, however, comply with the appropriate entry, testing, and quarantine protocols, depending on the country’s approved listing,” Roque said.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte approved the lifting last Friday during his meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), who recommended the measure.
During the same meeting, the IATF also came up with a new color-coding scheme, which will classifycountries/jurisdictions/territories based on its number of novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2, and testing data.
The quarantine protocol for inbound travelers will depend on the color classification of the countries/jurisdictions/territories, where they came from.
A country is included in the “Yellow List” countries, jurisdictions or territories or those with “Moderate Risk” based on the following metrics: for populations greater than 100,000, the incidence rate shall be 50 to 500; and for populations less than 100,000, the COVID-19 case counts shall be 50 to 500; and testing rate of tests over the past 28 days per 100,000 population.
Travelers from Yellow-listed areas will undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival.
They have to complete the first 10 days in a quarantine facility while the remaining 4 days must be spent under home quarantine in their respective local government units of destination
“They shall undergo RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription – Polymerase Chain Reaction ) testing on the 7th day, with their day of arrival serving as Day 1. Notwithstanding a negative test result, they have to complete their facility quarantine for 10 days,” Roque said.
Meanwhile, Roque said countries/jurisdictions/territories will belong to the “Red List” or “High Risk” based on the following metrics: for populations greater than 100,000 the incidence rate shall be more than 500; and for populations less than 100,000, the COVID-19 case counts shall be more than 500, and testing rate of tests over the past 28 days per 100,000 population.
“Inbound international travelers, regardless of their vaccination status, coming from or who have been to ‘Red List’ countries/jurisdictions/territories shall not be allowed to enter the Philippines,” Roque said.
Only returning Filipinos from Red-listed areas, who are part of government-initiated repatriation, non-government-initiated repatriation, and Bayanihan flights, will be allowed to enter the country.
As of press time last Sat., Malacañang has yet to issue the list ofcountries/jurisdictions/territories included in the Yellow and Red.
The IATF retained its existing rules for countries/jurisdictions/territories included in the Green List or those with minimal risk in terms of Covid-19 infections.
Inbound travelers from Green-listed areas only need to undergo 7-day facility-based quarantine and RT-PCR testing on the 5th day, with the day of their arrival being the first day.”
Roque said the updated Green List includes the following areas: American Samoa, Anguilla, Australia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gabon, Grenada, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Hungary, Mali, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Saba, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustatius, Slovakia and Taiwan.(Samuel Medenilla)
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