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The Philippines has extended anew travel restrictions on passengers from 10 countries from August 16 to 31 to prevent spread of COVID-19 variants in the country
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The ban covers India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia
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The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved the request of airlines to resume international transit hub operations
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International transit hub operations will be limited to airside transfers between Terminals 1 and 2, and within Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and further limited for countries/jurisdictions/territories in the country’s “Green List”
The Philippines has extended anew travel restrictions on passengers from 10 countries from August 16 to 31 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 variants, particularly the highly infectious Delta variant, in the country.
The ban covers India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
The Philippines last April began to implement a travel ban on incoming passengers from India due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in that country. In May, the ban was expanded to cover Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE, and Oman. On July 16, a travel ban was imposed on India, and on July 25 it was expanded to cover Malaysia and Thailand.
The Department of Health earlier emphasized the need to continuously enforce strict border control measures and intensify local COVID-19 responses against the local transmission of the Delta variant in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has approved the request of airlines to resume international transit hub operations.
International transit hub operations will be limited to airside transfers between Terminals 1 and 2, and within Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and further limited for countries/jurisdictions/territories in the country’s “Green List”, or countries considered low-risk for COVID-19 based on their disease incidence rate.
The country’s Green List currently includes Albania, American Samoa, Anguilla, Australia, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands, Gabon, Grenada, Hong Kong, Hungary, Mali, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Romania, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Slovakia, Sudan, and Taiwan.
IATF said protocols for the controlled movement of passengers and health and safety protocols within the terminals should be strictly observed.
Any traveler who exhibits symptoms should comply with isolation and quarantine protocols, which will be for the account of the sponsoring airlines.
The IATF has directed the Department of Foreign Affairs, Bureau of Quarantine, and Bureau of Immigration to formulate protocols for the issuance of appropriate visas applicable.
