The government has revised the list of more than 50 "green" countries or those with low risk of coronavirus amid moves to screen vaccinated travelers arriving in the Philippines.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has added some countries to the "green" list but also removed a number of nations.
The task force earlier issued health guidelines for vaccinated travelers, including allow shorter quarantine protocol for persons vaccinated abroad who stayed in these "green" countries.
"The IATF approved and updated the list of countries/jurisdictions/territories considered as 'Green' for the purpose of the testing and quarantine protocols for fully vaccinated individuals," Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement Friday.
The foreign nations added to the Philippines' green list are Azerbaijan, Barbados, Comoros, Curacao, Dominica, Gabon, Mali, North Macedonia, and Romania.
Among those removed from the list are Belize, Burundi, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Zimbabwe.
The United States, which is still battling coronavirus outbreak, is still not included in the list of green states so far.
The revised green list released by the Philippine government includes:
- Albania
- American Samoa
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- Azerbaijan
- Barbados
- Benin
- Bermuda
- The British Virgin Islands
- Brunei
- Burkina Faso
- Cayman Islands
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
- Curacao
- Dominica
- Eswatini
- Falkland Islands
- French Polynesia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Hong Kong
- Iceland
- Isle of Man
- Israel
- Laos
- Liechtenstein
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Montserrat
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Palau
- Romania
- Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of Netherlands)
- Saint Barthelemy
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Singapore
- Sint Eustatius
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Togo
- Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
- Vietnam
Under a resolution, the task force ruled that the “green” countries/jurisdictions are those classified by the Department of Health as “low risk” countries/jurisdictions based on disease incidence rate.
Under the rules, the passengers vaccinated abroad must undergo a seven-day quarantine at a facility upon arrival in the Philippines, instead of the 10-day facility-based quarantine and four days in their place of destination. They must also take a swab COVID test on the fifth day of facility-based quarantine.
Should the swab test yield a negative result, the individual must complete the seven-day facility-based quarantine. If found positive, he or she shall follow the prescribed isolation protocols.