PRESIDENTIAL spokesperson Harry Roque announced Saturday that President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to lift travel restrictions on 10 countries starting on September 6, 2021.
Foreign travelers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia will be allowed to enter the country starting on the aforementioned date, provided that they have complied with IATF’s COVID-19 testing and quarantine protocols.
In addition to the “Green” country classification, the IATF has further adopted the “Yellow” and “Red” labels as part of the list that the agency has to differentiate each country’s risk level.
Whether a country is considered in “Yellow” or “Red” list depends on two criteria such as the (1) incidence rates and case counts which measures the cumulative new COVID-19 cases every 100,000 population over the past 28 days; and (2) testing data which pertains to the cumulative new positive cases over the past 28 days.
Tagged as “Yellow” are countries, jurisdictions, or territories under “Moderate Risk” which is based on the following conditions:
• The incidence rate must be 50 to 500 if the country has over 100,000 population.
• The COVID-19 case counts should be 50 to 500 and the testing rate in every 100,000 population over the past 28 days if the country has less than 100,000 population.
On the other hand, classified as “Red” are countries, jurisdictions, or territories with “High Risk” which is measured with the following conditions:
• The incidence rate shall be over 500 if the country has greater than 100,000 population.
• The COVID-19 case counts should be more than 500 and the testing rate in every 100,000 population over the past 28 days if the country has less than 100,000 population.
The imposition of the travel ban—initially set to end on August 31 and extended on September 5—has emerged following the risk of transmission brought by the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant.
(PHOTO CREDIT: nytimes.com)