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Roque: IATF to discuss fate of travel ban on UAE, 9 other countries 

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) will discuss the fate of the prevailing travel restrictions imposed on the United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

The travel ban is set to expire on July 31. The decision was made in order to prevent the spread of the Delta variant. 

The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed last week that the Delta variant cases in the country are linked to one another leading to what experts call as ‘local transmission’.

“The DOH further emphasized the need to continuously enforce strict border control measures and intensify local COVID-19 responses with the local transmission of the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant in the Philippines,” it said in a statement.

“The country has been implementing travel bans and stringent border control measures to delay the entry of the variant, giving the country a headstart to prepare its capacity to manage potential surges,” it added.

The DOH said that clusters of Delta variant cases were seen to be ‘linked to other local cases’, therefore, exhibiting local transmission.

“Upon detection of local cases with the Delta variant, the DOH explained that the government has initiated enhanced COVID-19 response in areas where Delta variant cases were detected. Both the national and local governments have been continuously working together to intensify the implementation of the prevent, detect, isolate, treat, and re-integrate response strategies and increase the country’s health system capacity to be able to manage cases,” the department added.

The DOH said that the government units (LGUs) and the private sector have been ensuring that there are enough COVID-19-dedicated ward, ICU, and temporary treatment facility beds in the country.

Staff Report

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