The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Sunday approved the expansion of travel restrictions to seven more countries until December 15 over the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.
The countries of Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy have been added to the red list, which initially included the south African nations of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique.
In a statement, Cabinet Secretary and acting Palace spokesperson Karlo Nograles said that inbound international travel of anyone from these red list countries within the last 14 days prior to arrival in the Philippines are not allowed regardless of vaccination status.
“Only Filipinos returning to the country via government-initiated or non-government-initiated repatriation and Bayanihan Flights may be allowed entry subject to the prevailing entry, testing, and quarantine protocols for Red List countries, jurisdictions, or territories,” he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) named the recently discovered B.1.1.529 variant Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa.
“With Omicron designated as a Variant of Concern, the IATF likewise approved the recommendations to strengthen local COVID-19 response,” Nograles said.
This includes, he added, strongly enjoining the local government units to heighten their alert for increasing and clustering of cases and emphasizing the need for active case finding; to immediately conduct contact tracing and isolation of cases detected from case surveillance among the community, including domestic and international travelers; and to use RT-PCR testing in order to allow for whole-genome sequencing of collected samples. — BM, GMA News
Philippines adds 7 more countries to red list over COVID-19 Omicron variant
Source: Balita News
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