President Rodrigo Duterte has extended until the end of the month the ban on the entry of travelers coming from 10 countries, as the Philippines tries to curb the coronavirus infections amid the presence of the highly transmissible Delta variant.
The travel restrictions, to be extended from Aug. 16 to Aug. 31, apply to passengers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr.
Roque said Mr. Duterte decided not to lift the travel ban based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Meanwhile, the IATF also updated its list of “green” countries, or areas considered at low risk for COVID-19.
Travelers from these areas would have a shorter seven-day facility-based quarantine upon arrival.
The “green” countries are Albania, American Samoa, Anguilla, Australia, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands, Gabon, Grenada, Hong Kong, Hungary, Mali, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat (British Overseas Territory), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Romania, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Slovakia, Sudan and Taiwan. —Leila B. Salaverria