BI to impose eased quarantine rules for fully vaccinated passengers from 57 'low-risk' countries


The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced that fully vaccinated passengers from 57 countries considered as low risk by health authorities are entitled to a shorter quarantine period of seven days upon their arrival in the Philippines.

Vials of COVID-19 vaccines. (Keith Bacongco/ File photo/ MANILA BULLETIN)

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the list of 57 “green” countries were included in a resolution issued on Wednesday, June 30 by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

These countries are Albania, American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Benin, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Falkland Islands, French Polynesia, Gambia, Ghana, Greenland, Grenada, Hongkong, Iceland, Isle of Man, Israel, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Rwanda, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Singapore, Saint Eustatius, South Korea, Taiwan, Togo, Turks and Caicos Islands (UK), Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

Morente said that passengers who stayed exclusively in any of these 57 places within the past 14 days immediately preceding their arrival shall undergo a seven-day facility-based quarantine, provided that they have been fully inoculated from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Hence, Morente said that they would only need to present a seven-day booking in a government-accredited quarantine hotel or facility during primary immigration inspection when they arrive in the Philippines.

Morente also reiterated that arriving passengers who were fully vaccinated in the Philippines are entitled to the same shorter quarantine privilege, and would need to present a seven-day quarantine booking upon arrival to immigration authorities.

Those not covered by these rules need to stay at a quarantine facility for 10 days upon arriving in the country.