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MANILA – The Department of Health will recommend extending travel restrictions to all countries that report a case of the new variant of COVID-19, Usec. María Rosario Vergeire said Monday.
The inter-agency working group on COVID-19 will meet Monday morning to discuss the measures that the country will take against the new variant, which is supposedly more contagious.
“This is urgent. We all know that decisions will be critical and must be immediate,” he told the ANC Headstart when asked about the travel ban.
“We are going to recommend that we expand the restrictions on our borders to include the other countries that also have this variant identified,” he said.
Scientists in the UK have identified the new variant of COVID-19, which appears to be more contagious and genetically distinct.
The Philippines has so far suspended flights from the United Kingdom from December 24 to December 31. All passengers who have been in transit to or from the country within 14 days are also excluded from the country, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
Travelers from the UK who arrived before Christmas Eve were also required to observe the quarantine.
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