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President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the Department of Health (DoH) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to ban the entry of travelers from the United States, said on Friday the spokesman of the Palace, Harry Roque Jr.
The ban was proposed after the US reported on its first case of the new Covid-19 variant that was discovered in the UK.
Roque said that passengers from the United States will not be able to enter the country from January 3 to 15.
Filipinos will be allowed entry, but must undergo a 14-day quarantine, even if they get a negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
Earlier this week, Duterte expanded the travel ban initially imposed on UK passengers to include 19 more countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon. , Netherlands. , Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa and Spain.
The DFA urged Filipinos abroad to reconsider travel plans to the Philippines during the life of the travel restrictions imposed as a precaution against the entry of the new Covid-19 variant, identified as B117.
“All travelers to the country should carefully reconsider their travel plans, including postponing their trips until after the end of travel restrictions to avoid personal inconvenience and possible additional expenses, as well as help prevent the incidence of the new Covid-19 strain. in the country. ,” He said.
“During the given period, non-Filipino citizens coming from the countries and jurisdiction in question, regardless of previous visa status, waivers granted or relationship with Filipino citizens, will be temporarily restricted from entering the Philippines,” said the DFA.
The department urged those intending to travel to the Philippines to check with the nearest Philippine embassy or consulate and regularly check the Immigration Office website and social media sites for the latest information.
With Bernadette E. Tamayo
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