The SUN HK : Philippines bans 7 more places over Omicron

By Daisy CL Mandap

The IATF has overruled Duque in getting Hong Kong included in the banned list

The Philippines has added seven more countries to its banned “red list” to contain the spread of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, but spared Hong Kong.

This is despite yesterday’s recommendation by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to include Hong Kong in the list, after two imported Omicron cases were reported in the city.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19 response added Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy to the red list, according to a press statement from Cabinet Secretary and acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

Already on the red list are South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique.

However, travelers from all places in the green list like Hong Kong will no longer be able to enter the Philippines quarantine-free if they are fully vaccinated and were able to present a negative result for a Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of boarding their flights.

Under the new guidelines issued by the IATF, all inbound travelers from overseas (except arrivals from the red or high-risk places who are banned from entry) will have to comply with the testing and quarantine protocols for “yellow” or moderate risk countries.

CLICK FOR DETAILS

This means, fully vaccinated travelers even with a negative Covid-19 test result will have to stay in a quarantine facility for three days. Those who are unvaccinated, with incomplete doses or without a negative Covid-19 test result, will be in quarantine for five days.

The IATF also suspended Resolution No. 150-A (Series of 2021) allowing the entry of fully vaccinated nationals of non-visa required countries from green list places like Hong Kong.\

CLICK THIS TO REGISTER FOR FREE!

Nograles said the ban on travelers from red list countries will apply to all persons, regardless of vaccination status, who had been to the high-risk places within 14 days before arriving in the Philippines.

Only Filipinos repatriated from red countries will be allowed in, under strict quarantine rules

Only Filipinos being repatriated to the country or through so-called “bayanihan” flights will be allowed entry subject to the prevailing entry, testing, and quarantine protocols for red list places.

The ban took effect in the first hours of Sunday. Passengers already in transit and those who have been to the red places within 14 days immediately preceding arrival to the Philippines and who arrive before 12:01 a.m. of November 30 will not be subject to restrictions.

PRESS FOR MORE DETAILS

However, they will undergo 14 days of quarantine in a designated facility and will be tested on day 7.

Passengers who arrived before Nov 28 and have already begun their quarantine based on the classification of their country of origin will be allowed to complete their testing and quarantine protocols.

All passengers who transited through a red country will not be deemed as having come from there if they only stayed at the airport the whole time and did not pass through immigration.

Press for details

Omicron, which was initially detected in Botswana but was first reported by South Africa to the World Health Organization on Nov 24, was declared as a “variant of concern” by the international body on Friday.

It has since been detected in Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong.

Earlier, confusion reigned when a spokesperson for the National Task Force Against Covid-19 said in a radio interview that Hong Kong had been included in the list of banned territories.

BASAHIN ANG KWENTONG DREAM LOVE

But the NTF later clarified that the inclusion of Hong Kong in the red or high-risk places was "not yet final."

"Until a formal announcement from the IATF is made, Hong Kong flights will still be allowed. We apologize for any inconvenience an earlier pronouncement may have caused," said the NTF's statement.