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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Early Christmas gift to Pinoy families announced: Shortened quarantine for inbound travelers

Early Christmas gift to Pinoy families announced: Shortened quarantine for inbound travelers

Published Nov 19, 2021 04:36 pm

The reduced facility-based quarantine period for inbound travelers from yellow list territories is an "early Christmas gift" to Filipino families, a presidential adviser said Friday, Nov. 19.

(FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) Overseas Filipinos sent home almost $18 billion of cash remittances as of end-July

“We thank the national government for heeding our call to let our kababayans come home for Christmas,” Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said in a statement.

“We are so glad they granted our request to reduce the facility-based quarantine stays,” he added.

Concepcion led private sector calls for the government to reduce the mandated five-day stay at facility quarantines for fully-vaccinated individuals.

The lengthy quarantines have been cited by overseas-based Filipinos as the primary reason for putting off their plans to travel to the Philippines this holiday season.

Under the new quarantine protocols, fully-vaccinated arrivals from yellow list territories must present a negative pre-departure test taken 72 hours before departure. Upon arrival, they must undergo facility-based quarantine with a third-day RT-PCR test. If they test negative, they may be allowed to go out and self-monitor for 14 days.

Non-fully vaccinated minors accompanied by fully-vaccinated individuals will undergo the same quarantine protocol as the adults, while non-fully vaccinated minors will undergo the same protocols as unvaccinated individuals and be tested after staying seven days at a facility. Fully-vaccinated minors, meanwhile, shall follow the protocol for fully-vaccinated individuals.

Concepcion had earlier pointed out that inbound international travelers "posed very little risk to raising infection rates in the country," citing data from Philippine Airlines that shows "a very low positivity rate among inbound passengers from the US." Analysis by OCTA Research also showed that most new COVID-19 cases in the country are due to local transmissions.

Concepcion emphasized that the downstream benefits of allowing more inbound travelers to the Philippines would benefit the MSMEs.

“Many MSMEs are counting on the increased holiday and pre-election spending to help them recover from the losses during the pandemic. They will be able to pay back their loans and earn enough to provide for their workers’ 13th month pay. There are many things that depend on letting our kababayans come home this Christmas,” he said.

Concepcion also lauded the decision to include in the new interim quarantine protocols all yellow-listed countries and not just those from North America, saying, “This is the trend around the world now. Other countries like the US, India, and Thailand are opening their borders. We should learn from their experiences so we can apply them to the Philippines as we safely open up our economy and join the rest of the world."

Related Tags

quarantine protocols Go Negosyo Yellow List inbound travelers 111921
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