MANILA – The Philippines has extended the ban on travelers from 32 countries until Jan. 31 to halt the spread of a new, more contagious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) variant.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the extension during their Thursday meeting, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Prior to this, the travel ban imposed on countries with cases of the new COVID-19 variant was supposed to end by 11:59 p.m. last night.
“The IATF approved the recommendation to extend until Jan. 31, 2021 the entry travel restrictions and the rules applicable to all travelers coming from or transiting through the following countries or jurisdictions,” said Roque.
Countries covered by the travel ban are Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Ireland, and Israel.
Also in travel ban list are Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, and South Africa.
Completing the roster are South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.
The extension of the travel restriction follows the confirmation of the first case of the new variant in the country – a Filipino who had returned from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Roque earlier said the UAE would likely be included in the travel ban, but there was still no such announcement on Friday.
“[The] President will be the one to declare that, if ever. [The] list is for extension of restrictions and not for new [areas],” Roque said in a statement./PN
