MANILA – The travel restriction imposed on 36 countries by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) that aims to curb the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) variants will not be extended.
In his statement on Friday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that there is no recommendation to extend the travel ban on countries with confirmed new COVID-19 variant and the travel restriction remains until Jan. 31 and would lapse after the aforesaid date.
The spokesperson added that during Feb. 1, arriving foreigners should have valid and existing visas at the time of entry, except for those qualified under the Balikbayan program of the government. They should be subject to maximum capacity of inbound passengers at the port and date of entry; they should also have a pre-booked accommodation for at least seven nights in an accredited quarantine hotel or facility and shall undergo COVID-19 testing at the quarantine hotel or facility on the sixth day from the date of their arrival.
Foreign parent of minor Filipinos, foreign parent of Filipino children with special needs, accredited foreign government and international organization officials and their dependents, foreign airline crewmembers, foreign seafarers with appropriate visas, and foreigners with long-term and investor visas are allowed to enter the country but still need to complete their 14-day quarantine.
The government first imposed the travel restrictions last December 24 covering only the United Kingdom, where the more transmissible variant was initially detected. It was then expanded to 36 countries.
The Department of Health (DOH) has so far recorded 17 UK variant COVID-19 cases in the country, 12 of which were traced in Bontoc, Mountain Province. /PN
