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President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a seven-day ban on all flights from the United Kingdom following the discovery of a new and more powerful variant of the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in that country.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte approved the suspension Tuesday. It will last from December 24 to 31.
Covered by the suspension are passengers who have been in the UK in the last 14 days and those who are in transit, it noted.
Passengers already in transit from the UK and those arriving in the Philippines before 12:01 am on December 24 will be allowed in, but will have to undergo stricter testing and quarantine, it added.
Philippine Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Eric Apolonio said UK flights would be diverted to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Tarlac and passengers would be transferred to Athletes’ Village in New Clark City.
The head of the Public Affairs Department of the Manila International Airport Authority, Connie Bungag, said that Filipino workers who are on vacation abroad are also covered by the suspension.
Passengers flying to the UK would be subject to existing departure protocols, Roque said.
Reports showed that the variant of the coronavirus first identified in the UK was spreading 70 percent faster than the current strain.
UK researchers discovered the variant after collecting samples from infected people in south-east England.
Since then, Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands have identified cases of the variant in their countries.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tightened restrictions over Christmas and encouraged officials in the Netherlands, Germany and other European countries to ban travel from the UK.
Almost immediately, several countries imposed a travel ban on the UK, including Canada, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland and Germany.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) said it would convene its members to discuss how to manage a new variant of coronavirus.
Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe on Twitter, said the organization was closely monitoring the spread of the new variant and would “convene member states to discuss strategies for testing, reducing transmission and communicating risks.” .
The WHO European region comprises 53 countries, including Russia and several Central Asian nations, a region that has recorded nearly 24 million Covid-19 cases and more than 500,000 deaths.
The new strain of the virus, which has also been detected in small numbers elsewhere, appears to spread more easily than other types, but experts say there is no evidence that it is more lethal or resistant to vaccines.
The discovery sparked panic that led more than two dozen countries to suspend flights from the UK, threatening travel chaos during the Christmas season.
The European Union recommended lifting the restrictions and urged that passengers be tested for viruses within 72 hours prior to travel.
France said on Tuesday that it would relax its stance and allow EU citizens and residents of EU countries to travel from Britain starting Wednesday, provided they can show a negative Covid-19 test that is no more than 72. hours.
The ban on arrivals to France has led to a long collapse of freight trucks in southern England and disrupted passenger travel in the run-up to Christmas.
The death toll from the virus topped 1.7 million on Tuesday, about a year after it first appeared in China. Germany on Tuesday extended its ban on arrivals from the UK, as well as from South Africa, where a similar variant was found, until January 6.
The European Union is preparing to launch the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Sunday, following similar vaccination campaigns in the UK and the US.
The BioNTech co-founder said Tuesday that his vaccine was “very likely” to work against the mutated strain found in Britain.
And if not, the vaccine could be adapted in six weeks, Ugur Sahin said, adding that tests with the variant are already underway.
In the United States, the worst affected country in the world, 78-year-old President-elect Joe Biden received a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine live on television to boost Americans’ confidence in vaccines.
AND BENJAMIN L. VERGARA WITH AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
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