Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. lauded President Duterte's decision to extend the travel restrictions imposed on travelers from 10 countries until the end of the month, saying this was to curb coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in the country.
Locsin made the statement after Duterte approved the recommendation to extend the travel ban on the following countries from August 16 to 31, 2021 amid the fight against the highly transmissible Delta COVID-19 variant:
- India
- Pakistan
- Bangladesh
- Sri Lanka
- Nepal
- United Arab Emirates
- Oman
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
In a tweet, Locsin said extending the travel ban was the only way to curb the spread of different COVID-19 variants of concern in the country.
The only way. Anyone comes up with laxer proposals needs Lomotil of the head. https://t.co/w7WCOtRCKK
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) August 13, 2021
"The only way. Anyone comes up with laxer proposals needs Lomotil of the head," he tweeted Saturday, August 14.
Lomotil is a known medication used for treating diarrhea.
Earlier, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the restrictions were imposed on travelers from the said countries to "prevent the further spread and community transmission of COVID-19 variants" in the Philippines.
He added that travel restrictions were subject to the same exceptions on repatriation and special commercial flights for Filipinos. However, they will be required to follow the prescribed testing and quarantine protocols.
The Delta variant first detected in India was reported to have paved the way for the deadly second wave of COVID-19 infections in the said country.
The Department of Health (DOH) reported 177 new cases of the said variant on Thursday, bringing the total number of Delta infections in the Philippines to 627 as of August 12.