Philippines allows entry of fully vaccinated travellers from ‘green’ places

Manila, Nov 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Philippines will allow the entry of fully-vaccinated foreign travellers from "green" or low-risk Covid-19 countries and regions starting from December 1-15, Cabinet Secretary and acting Presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said on Friday.

In a virtual press conference, Nograles added the travellers must have proof of vaccination, hold passports valid for at least six months at the time of arrival, and have a return or outbound ticket.

Bureau of Immigration spokesperson, Dana Sandoval said that foreign "tourists" from "green" visa-free countries and regions are among the travellers that will be allowed entry, Xinhua news agency reported.

Before travelling to the Philippines, Nograles said the foreign travellers should have stayed exclusively in the green countries or regions for 14 days.

Nograles added that inbound foreign travellers are required to present a negative swab test result taken "within 72 hours before departure". Upon arrival, foreign travellers are no longer required to isolate in a facility-based quarantine and are not required to have an on-arrival RT-PCR swab test.

However, he said the passengers are urged to self-monitor for any symptoms until the 14th day, with the first day being the date of arrival.

"This is something we are doing step by step," Nograles said, adding that the government may extend this measure depending on the situation.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 863 new Covid-19 infections on Friday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the southeast Asian country to 2,830,387.

The Philippines has recorded fewer than 1,000 cases for three straight days. The DOH also reported that 142 more people have died from Covid-19 complications, bringing the country's death toll to 48,017.

Source: IANS