PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has approved the call of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to restrict the entry of travelers from nine countries considered under the “red list,, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual press briefing.
“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte approved today, Sept. 10, 2021, the imposition of travel restrictions on countries under the Red List,” the spokesperson said.
According to Roque, travel restrictions for individuals coming from, heading to, or who have been in any of the “red list” territories at least 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival at the airport, will be barred from entering the country starting on September 12 at 12 noon to September 18 at 11:59 p.m. Philippine Standard Time.
Meanwhile, travelers who have reached the Philippines before 12 noon of September 12 are required to undergo a 14-day mandatory isolation period where they will be observed for 10 days in a quarantine facility while the four remaining days will be spent in their home as their respective local health authorities will have to monitor them.
Moreover, these travelers will have to take a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on the 7th day of their isolation period including the first day of their arrival.
The countries that are on the Red List and where travelers have been to or entered and stayed are cannot enter the country starting on the aforementioned date are as follows:
• Azerbaijan
• Guadeloupe
• Guam
• Israel
• Kosovo
• Montenegro
• North Macedonia
• Saint Lucia
• Switzerland
Roque, however, clarified that travelers who stayed for awhile inside the airport of the “red list” countries for a short layover and “were not cleared for entry by immigration authorities” are excluded in the imposition of the travel ban.
Furthermore, included in the exemption are special commercial flights and returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and/or repatriated Filipinos from government-initiated or non-government programs.
Countries classified as “red” are jurisdictions or territories with “high risk” where travelers who came from these areas are at most potential risk to transmit COVID-19.