A TOP Palace official said the government is temporarily suspending flights from South Africa and other areas as part of measures to heighten border control and prevent the entry of the B.1.1.529 variant.
Cabinet Secretary and Acting Spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) approved on Friday, November 26, 2021, the temporary suspension of inbound international flights from South Africa, Botswana, and other countries with local cases of the B.1.1.529 variant.
The task force also approved the temporary suspension of inbound international flights from Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique, which are adjacent to South Africa and Botswana. “Passengers coming from or having been to these abovementioned countries within the last 14 days prior to arrival shall be temporarily barred from entering the country,” the order stated.
The order takes effect immediately and until December 15. 2021.
Nograles said the Bureau of Quarantine, coordinating closely with local government units (LGUs), “has been directed to locate travelers from the abovementioned countries who may have arrived in the recent 7 days prior to the temporary suspension of inbound travel.”
“These travelers shall be required to undergo full 14-day facility-based quarantine with RT-PCR test on the 7th day or upon location of the passenger, whichever is later, with the date of arrival as Day 1,” the IATF said.
He explained that passengers already in transit from the abovementioned countries and all those who have been to the same within 14 days immediately preceding arrival to the Philippines, who arrive before 12:01 am of November 28, 2021, shall not be barred from entry. However, these travelers “shall be required to undergo stricter quarantine and testing protocols such as the observation of an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, notwithstanding a negative RT-PCR result.”
Meanwhile, all passengers, whether Filipinos or foreigners, merely transiting through the abovementioned countries shall not be deemed as having come from or having been to the said country if they stayed in the airport the entire time and were not cleared for entry into such country by its immigration authorities.
However, upon arrival in the Philippines, these passengers shall comply with existing testing and quarantine protocols.