MANILA – The Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Friday announced that they will be implementing the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) on extending the travel ban until Jan. 31.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente shared that they received an order from Malacañang and the IATF extending the travel ban, following reports of new COVID-19 variants.
In the expanded travel restrictions, foreigners coming from or have been to the 33 travel-restricted countries within 14 days from their arrival in the Philippines shall be excluded.
Currently, the government is implementing a travel ban on aliens coming from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, The Netherlands, The People’s Republic of China, including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain, and the United States.
Also included in the travel ban are those coming from Portugal, India, Finland, Norway, Jordan, Brazil, Austria, Pakistan, Jamaica, Luxembourg, and Oman.
“We expect further decrease in the number of travelers in the coming weeks due to the reported new variants of COVID-19,” said Morente.
“We shall continue implementing existing protocol on arriving Filipinos from the 33 countries,” he added.
Morente likewise reminded international travelers to practice social distancing and hygiene while traveling.
“We are implementing strict social distancing measures in the immigration areas at the airports, to ensure that contact is minimized during travel,” he said. - PR
(File photo taken at NAIA Terminal 3 on July 20, 2020)
