President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force to include Indonesia in the list of countries under travel ban due to the threat of Delta COVID-19 variant.
“The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has approved the travel restrictions for all travelers coming from Indonesia or those with travel history to Indonesia within the last fourteen (14) days preceding arrival in the Philippines,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
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Travel ban will take effect starting 12:01AM of July 16, 2021 until 11:59PM of July 31, 2021. This means, travelers shall be prohibited from entering the Philippines .
“Passengers already in transit from the abovementioned country, and all those who have been to the same within 14 days immediately preceding arrival to the Philippines, who arrive before 12:01AM of July 16, 2021, may still be allowed to enter the country but will be required to undergo a full 14 day facility quarantine notwithstanding a negative Reverse Transcription – Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) result,” Roque said.
Malacañang explains that the move is to prevent the further spread and community transmission of COVID-19 variants in the Philippines.
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Earlier, the IATF has also extended the travel ban to seven countries including the United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka until July 31.
This is the fifth time the travel ban has been extended in order to curb the entry of the more transmissible Delta variant first detected in India. (TDT)
