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Foreign tourists from countries with new COVID-19 variant still banned in PH
Foreign tourists from countries with new COVID-19 variant still banned in PH
The Philippines will start welcoming select foreign nationals on February 1, more than a month after it first imposed a travel ban on travelers coming from countries that have the reported new and highly transmissible coronavirus variant that was first detected in the United Kingdom, a government official said Saturday.
In an interview with Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles over TeleRadyo, he clarified that foreign tourists from countries with the new COVID-19 strain are still not allowed to enter the country and that balikbayan Filipinos have never been restricted from going back home as long as they follow the safety and quarantine protocols.
Instead, the official said that the Philippines “will go back to the status quo before we had travel ban restrictions.”
The restrictions were put in place in December after reports of the highly transmissible strain of COVID-19 was detected in the United Kingdom. The ban, which originally covered 30 countries, will end on January 31.
Nograles said that those who will be allowed are foreign spouses of Philippine nationals, foreign minor children and children of Filipino nationals, foreign parents of minor Filipino children, and foreign seafarers.
Accredited foreign government and international organization officials and their dependents will also be allowed, as well as foreign airline crew, and those with valid long-term visas such as the temporary resident visa, legal resident status visa, permanent resident visa, and native-born visa.
Foreign investors with a valid visa, those with a pre-arranged employment visa, and balikbayan traveling with their spouse and dependent children.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has the prerogative to decide on waiving or recalling the exclusions.
Although the travel ban restrictions will end, Nograles assured the people that there are new protocols in place to stop the spread of this new variant.
“We have a new protocol for those who will enter the country. They should have a pre-arranged quarantine facility. They should be in quarantine for a minimum of seven days. Once they arrive, they will be checked for symptoms,” he said.
The government has accredited quarantine or isolation facilities. Anyone traveling to the country must book with these accredited facilities, as well as undergo a total of 14 days of quarantine.
Nograles said that if the travelers showed no symptoms upon arrival, they will be asked to transfer to the quarantine facility. After which, they will get swabbed after five days. If the result is negative, the travelers will be endorsed to the local government unit of their original destination where they can continue a strict quarantine until they complete the full 14 days.
The country had its first patient with the new COVID-19 variant in a Filipina who traveled back from Dubai. On Friday, the Philippines reported a total of 521,413 cases of COVID-19.