SunStar File photo January 31, 2021 AS THE end of the travel ban on arriving foreigners from 36 areas affected by new and more contagious variants of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) nears, around 1,200 passengers have arrived at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) from these areas with travel restrictions. GMR Megawide, MCIA’s operator, said all the passengers were returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs). Hence, they were exempt from the ban, which will end on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Also exempt are spouses of Filipino citizens. The country’s Covid-19 Task Force first implemented the travel ban on passengers coming from the United Kingdom (UK) at the end of December in a bid to prevent the entry of the new, highly contagious UK variant.