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MANILA (REUTERS) – The Philippines will ban travelers from 19 countries and territories until mid-January as a measure to avoid a new variant of the coronavirus, its Ministry of Transportation said on Tuesday (December 29).
The countries marked include Singapore, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, South Africa, and Japan.
The regulation will take effect from midnight Tuesday to January 15 and covers Filipinos and foreigners arriving from “marked countries,” the Transportation Ministry told reporters in a group text message.
The Philippines previously imposed and later extended a ban on flights from Britain until mid-January, as the most contagious variant of the Covid-19 virus was first detected in England.
The new variant, which British scientists have dubbed “VUI – 202012/01,” has renewed fears about the virus that has killed more than 1.7 million people worldwide.
With more than 470,000 infections and 9,124 deaths, the Philippines has the second highest number of Covid-19 cases and victims in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.
The new variant has not been detected in the Philippines. Philippine health officials said the travel ban could be expanded to include more countries, should they report the presence of the new variant.
Meanwhile, the Philippines approved a clinical trial for the Covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Tuesday.
Trials could begin in the coming weeks, FDA Director Rolando Enrique Domingo said at a news conference.
The FDA is still evaluating the late-stage trial applications of Sinovac and Clover, Domingo said.
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