SunStar
President Rodrigo Duterte. (AP photo)
+ December 30, 2020 PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has approved the temporary prohibition of flights from the United Kingdom, and entry of foreign travelers from 18 other countries and one territory from Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020 to Jan. 15, 2021.
The temporary ban was issued in light of the spread of a new Covid-19 variant in the UK.
Aside from the UK, President Duterte approved the temporary ban on the entry of foreign travelers from Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, The Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain and Hong Kong.
Foreign and Filipino passengers who are already in transit from these places and are set to arrive in the country before Dec. 30 will not be prohibited from entering the Philippines.
19. Spain
The government has already extended a travel ban on flights coming from the United Kingdom until January 15 as a precaution against the entry of the more contagious new COVID strain in the country. Travelers from the UK also prohibited from entering the country “except as modified with respect to Filipino citizens,” according to the Palace memo.
The UK travel ban was originally imposed by the Philippine government from Dec. 24 to 31 but has been extended by the President for two more weeks. The new COVID strain, which first emerged in the UK, has reportedly bee detected in several other countries.
SunStar
File December 29, 2020 FOREIGN travelers arriving from or transiting through 19 countries, aside from the United Kingdom (UK), will not be allowed to enter the Philippines beginning 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, December 30, 2020.
Filipino citizens with travel history in UK or in any of the 19 countries within 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines will be allowed to enter the country, but will be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine regardless of RT-PCR test results.
The prohibition, which is aimed at blocking the more contagious UK variant of Sars-CoV-2, will last until January 15, 2021. Sars-CoV-2 causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Malacañang said the prohibition covers UK and the following countries:
December 28, 2020
The government will strengthen the country’s capacity for “biogenomic surveillance” to diagnose viruses in the country, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said this Sunday.
At a press briefing, Duque said it was a needed measure after the discovery of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the United Kingdom (UK).
Countries continue to increase the number of new COVID-19 variants that started in the UK.
Canada reported the most recent cases, with 2 new variants from couples in Ontario, with no travel history and exposure or high-risk contact.
At the same press briefing, experts explained that mutations in viruses, living organisms that change and adapt to the environment, are normal.
CALOOCAN CITY, Dec. 28 (PIA) Contrary to reports that there is still no travel ban here in the Philippines to prevent the entry of the reported new strain of COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) clarifies that a ban for travelers from the UK or those with history of travel from the UK has been in effect since 24 December 2020.
In a statement, the Health department said pursuant to the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution No. 90, the ban has been in effect since 12:01 AM of December 24 and all flights from the UK have been temporarily suspended until December 31, 2020. Following tonight’s IATF meeting, President Rodrigo Roa-Duterte has approved the extension of the said travel ban for two more weeks.