THE travel ban on the entry of travelers from India and other countries as imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) applies to all international airports in the country, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said yesterday.
Nograles, who is co-chairman of the IATF, said the ban is not exclusive to the Metro Manila terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The government has banned the entry of all travelers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka until May 14 to prevent the entry of the double mutant Indian variant virus.
The Department of Health is also eyeing the imposition of travel restrictions on passengers from the Middle East after two returning overseas Filipinos from Oman and the United Arab Emirates tested positive of the Indian virus upon their arrival in the country last month.
Nograles, in an interview with ANC, noted that the Mactan International Airport in Cebu has direct flights from the Middle East.
“We have a standard protocol for all international airports, no exemption,” he said in an interview with ANC.
Nograles also reminded airport personnel to follow the 14-day state facility-based isolation of travelers who are allowed entry to the country.
He said the IATF has directed the Department of Interior and Local Government to remind local government units (LGUs) that host international airports in their jurisdictions to ensure strict compliance to travel protocols.
Nograles said the extension or lifting of the travel restrictions were among the issues discussed by the IATF during its meeting yesterday.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque called for stricter border control in the country’s entry points to prevent, or at least, minimize the entry of COVID-19 variant cases from other countries.
“We need to level up even more our border control. It covers not only travel ban, but also ensuring that the 14-day quarantine period for arriving travelers is strictly complied with,” said Duque in a press briefing during the ceremonial immunization program at the Makati Medical Center.
Similarly, he said it is imperative to break the chain of transmission in the country in order to prevent seeing more local variants.
“Let us strictly and consistently adhere to the minimum public health standards and immediately get vaccinated when it’s our turn, in order to prevent infection and further mutation of COVID-19. Low transmission rate means less chances for the virus to mutate,” said Duque.
Duque stressed that the different COVID-19 variants will be present as long as there is transmission of the virus.
“The variants can no longer be avoided. It is the characteristic of these viruses to mutate,” said Duque.
Currently, the country already has five known COVID-19 variants. The South African (B.1.351) variant has the highest number of cases at 1,098. It is followed by the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7) variant with 952 cases, then the Philippine variant (P.3) with 157 cases, Brazil (P.1) variant with two cases, and the Indian (B.1.617) variant, also with two cases. — With Gerard Naval
