Philippines bans travelers from 4 high-risk countries

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will ban travelers from Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Serbia and Slovenia, countries which are classified as “high risk” for COVID-19, beginning tomorrow until Sept. 30, Malacañang said.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque yesterday said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has placed the above mentioned countries on the Red List.

All passengers, except returning Filipinos, coming from or who have been to the Red List countries are prohibited from entering the country.

Filipinos returning via government-initiated or non-government repatriation programs and special commercial flights must undergo a 10-day facility-based quarantine upon arrival, regardless of their vaccination status.

They have to get an RT-PCR test on the seventh day of their facility-based quarantine. If tested negative, they can complete four more days of isolation at home.

The IATF earlier placed Azerbaijan, Guadeloupe, Guam, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Saint Lucia and Switzerland under the Red List from Sept. 12 to 18.

Meanwhile, the IATF updated the Green List, or countries/territories/jurisdictions that are “low risk” for COVID-19. These included American Samoa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gabon, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Hungary, Madagascar, Mali, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger and Northern Mariana Islands.

Also on the Green List are 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, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Yemen.

The IATF earlier allowed fully vaccinated travelers from areas in the Green List to have a shorter, seven-day facility-based quarantine upon arrival in the country. They are required to take RT-PCR test on their fifth day in the country.

Roque said all other countries/territories/jurisdictions not mentioned are in the Yellow List or those that are considered “moderate risk” for COVID-19.

Travelers coming from Yellow List countries shall also complete a 10-day facility quarantine and another four days in their respective local government units of destination. They shall undergo RT-PCR test on the seventh day of facility-based quarantine.

Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific has started implementing its test before boarding (TBB) program for passengers bound for Hong Kong as part of the company’s multi-layered approach to ensure passenger safety.

The budget carrier said it would shoulder the cost of the antigen test or TBB until Sept. 30.

Passengers are advised to directly proceed to the Philippine Airport Diagnostic Laboratory located at the second floor of NAIA Terminal 3 pre-departure area four hours before the scheduled time of departure.

Testing for Hong Kong-bound passengers is open from 1:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Antigen test results will be released within 30 minutes and only passengers with negative results may proceed to the check-in area, according to the carrier. –
Richmond Mercurio