By NG Seruela
The Philippine government will implement a temporary travel ban on the countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka from May 7 to May 14.
In a memorandum issued by Malacañang on Wednesday (May 5), the temporary travel ban is in reference to the joint recommendation of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on May 1, as well as Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 112 on April 27, in line with precautionary measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 variants in the country.
The memorandum states that all passengers “coming from or who have been” to the said countries, within 14 days of arrival in the Philippines, will undergo a 14-day facility-based quarantine in spite of a negative RT-PCR result.
All passengers “merely transiting through these countries,” provided that they only stayed in the airport, do not need to complete a full 14-day facility-based quarantine. However, they must comply with the country’s existing testing and quarantine protocols.
Furthermore, the specimens of travelers from Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh with COVID-19 positive results will be subjected to whole genome sequencing, and all close contacts must be placed under 14-day quarantine.
Related to this, the national government on April 27 had placed a temporary travel ban on the country of India for safety measures, under IATF Resolution No. 112. -jlo
