Malacañang announced that Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Serbia, and Slovenia have been added to the so-called red list countries, prohibiting travelers from the said nations to enter the Philippines starting Sept. 19, 2021.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the announcement amid the rising number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country.
In a statement on Friday morning, Sept. 17, Roque said the ban on the entry of travelers from the said four countries will last until Sept. 30, 2021.
Before this, the government has identified nine countries as red list. They are as follows:
- 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" 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
Inbound international travelers, regardless of their vaccination status, shall not be allowed to enter the Philippines. Only Filipinos returning to the country via government-initiated repatriation, non-government-initiated repatriation, and Bayanihan flights may be allowed entry, subject to entry, testing, and quarantine protocols.
Green and yellow Lists
The IATF has also updated the green list countries:
- American Samoa
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Cayman Islands
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Republic of the Congo
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
- Gabon
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Madagascar
- Mali
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Montserrat
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Niger
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Palau
- Poland
- Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of Netherlands)
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Sierra Leone
- Sint Eustatius
- Taiwan
- Algeria
- Bhutan
- Cook Islands
- Eritrea
- Kiribati
- Marshall Islands
- Nauru
- Nicaragua
- Niue
- North Korea
- Saint Helena
- Samoa
- Solomon Islands
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tajikstan
- Tanzania
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Yemen
Meanwhile, countries, jurisdictions, and territories not included on the red or green lists are placed on the "yellow list".
The IATF classified yellow list countries/jurisdictions/ territories as "moderate risk" based on the following metrics:
- For populations greater than 100,000, the incidence rate shall be 50 to 500
- For populations less than 100,000, the COVID-19 case counts shall be 50 to 500; and the testing rate of tests over the past 28 days per 100,000 population
Inbound international travelers, regardless of their vaccination status, coming from or with travel history within the last 14 days prior to their arrival in the Philippines from yellow list states shall be governed by entry, testing, and quarantine protocols.