(Eagle News)– The Philippine government has included the United States in its list of countries subject to travel restrictions following reports of the new COVID-19 variant there.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said foreign passengers coming from that country, or who have been to the US within 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines, shall be prohibited from entering the country effective January 3, 2021, 12:01 a.m., Manila time.
He said the ban shall be in effect until January 15, 2021.
According to Roque, while passengers coming from the US, or who have been to the US within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines, arriving before January 3, 2021, 12:01 a.m., Manila time, shall be allowed to enter the Philippines “effective immediately,” they shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, regardless of a negative RT-PCR test result.
Filipino citizens are exempted, but Roque said they are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine regardless of COVID-19 swab test result that turned out negative.
He said the ban was recommended by the Department of Health and the Department of Foreign Affairs, and was approved by the Office of the President.
The Philippines imposed a travel ban on travelers from the United Kingdom following reports of the COVID-19 variant, said to be up to 70 percent more infectious.
The ban was supposed to last until December 31, 2020 but this was extended to January 15, 2021.
The government later expanded the ban to include the following countries:
- Denmark
- Ireland
- Japan
- Australia’
- Israel
- The Netherlands
- Hong Kong
- Switzerland
- France
- Germany
- Iceland
- Italy
- Lebanon
- Singapore
- Sweden
- South Korea
- South Africa
- Canada
- Spain
The Philippines has so far reported 475,820 COVID-19 cases.
