President Duterte has approved the imposition of travel restrictions on passengers coming from nine countries placed under the "Red List" in order to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said that the following countries or jurisdictions have been placed under the Red List:
- Azerbaijan
- Guadeloupe
- Guam
- Israel
- Kosovo
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Saint Lucia
- Switzerland
The Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has classified Red List countries/jurisdictions/territories as "high risk" in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic based on the following metrics:
- For populations greater than 100,000 the incidence rate shall be more than 500
- For populations less than 100,000, the COVID-19 case counts shall be more than 500, and the testing rate of tests over the past 28 days per 100,000 population
According to Roque, passengers who have been in the said countries within 14 days from their arrival in the Philippines will not be allowed to enter the country starting Sept.12, 2021, at 12 noon until Sept. 18, 2021, at 11:59 p.m., Manila time.
This condition, however, does not cover Filipinos returning to the country via government-initiated or non-government repatriation programs and special commercial flights allowed under existing IATF resolutions.
Meanwhile, those who have been to the Red List countries and scheduled to arrive in the Philippines by 12 noon of Sept. 12 shall be allowed to enter the country. However, they will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period, 10 of which will be spent in a facility while the remaining four will be spent at home in their respective local government units (LGUs) of destination.
Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing shall be conducted on the seventh day, with the day of arrival marked as day one.
Passengers merely transiting through any of the said countries shall not be considered as having been there as long as they stayed in the airport the whole time and were not cleared for entry by immigration authorities.
The Philippines started implementing the new Green, Yellow, and Red List border control schemes last week.