Palace says no wider travel ban yet amid detection of COVID variant; MIAA removes advisory
ABS-CBN News – Updated as of Dec 29 2020 02:34 PM
MANILA — Malacañang said Tuesday the government has not issued a wider travel ban covering several territories that have reported a new, more infectious coronavirus variant first observed in the United Kingdom.
The Manila International Airport Authority also took down its social media post announcing the supposed travel restrictions on the following territories effective midnight of Dec. 29, 2020:
- United Kingdom
- South Africa
- Switzerland
- Italy
- Denmark
- Israel
- Hong Kong
- Spain
- Ireland
- Netherlands
- Singapore
- Lebanon
- Japan
- Canada
- Germany
- Sweden
- Australia
- France
- Iceland
- South Korea
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing that the wider travel ban was only “highly recommended” by the health department and the inter-agency heading the country’s pandemic response.
The public, he said, should wait for guidelines from the office of President Rodrigo Duterte “within the day.”
“Sabi po ng Presidente, kahit sinong Pilipino na nais makauwi, dapat makauwi. Imposible po iyan kung magkakaroon tayo ng travel ban. Hintayin lang po natin kung ano ang pinal na desisyon ng ating Presidente,” Roque said.
(The President said any Filipino who wants to come home should be able to come home. That is impossible if there will be a travel ban. Let us just wait for the final decision of the President.)
“If you ask me, is there now currently a travel ban? My answer is, No. Will there be? Perhaps. Ano ang detalye (what are the details)? Let’s wait for it,” he added.
The Philippines has suspended all flights from the UK effective Dec. 24 until mid-January amid the detection of a coronavirus variant that is said to have a faster rate of transmission.
In its already deleted Facebook post, the MIAA said passengers already in transit or who had been in any of the flagged countries within 14 days from entry into the Philippines and who arrive before Dec. 30 “will be allowed entry but they shall be subjected to strict quarantine and testing protocols (mandatory 14 day quarantine in OWWA and DOT accredited facilities) despite getting a negative RT-PCR result.”
The MIAA did not cite a reason for the takedown of its advisory.
Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said her agency has yet to receive a directive from the Inter-Agency Task Force regarding an expanded travel ban.
With more than 470,000 infections, the Philippines has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia.
Neither the UK nor the South African variant have been detected in the two Southeast Asian countries yet, however.
In an emergency meeting with health experts and government officials, Duterte last Saturday extended an existing ban on flights from Britain by 2 weeks to mid-January.
He also ordered a 14-day quarantine for passengers who have come from or transited through Britain, and from territories where the more infectious COVID-19 variant first identified there was detected, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and Japan.
Duterte pledged free vaccines for the country’s 108 million population, with shipments and inoculation to start in May, behind schedules of other nations.
“If (in the meantime) severity in numbers would demand that we take corrective measures immediately, then we should just have to go back to lockdown,” he said.
In mid-March, the Philippines imposed one of the world’s longest and toughest coronavirus lockdowns, which were gradually relaxed in June to allow a slow reopening of the economy.
The Philippines is in talks to acquire around 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including from Pfizer Inc, Moderna and Britain’s AstraZeneca, as well as Johnson & Johnson, India’s Novavax Inc, China’s Sinovac, and Russia’s Gamaleya Institute.
– With a report from Reuters
SOURCE: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/29/20/philippines-widens-travel-ban-to-prevent-entry-of-new-covid-19-strain
