Philippines lift Covid travel restrictions from Pakistan, nine other countries

MANILA: The Philippines has moved to lift the travel ban for all inbound travelers from Pakistan and nine other countries from September 6, presidential spokesperson announced Saturday.

President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation of the country’s COVID-19 task force to lift the travel restrictions on the in-bound passengers from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

“International travelers coming from the above mentioned countries shall, however, comply with the 14 days quarantine,” presidential spokesperson said in a statement.

The foreign tourists are still banned from entering the Philippines except those holding special visas such as diplomats and foreign spouses of Filipino citizens.

The local transmission of the Delta variant has spread to communities in the country. The World Health Organization confirmed the community transmission of the Delta variant, saying it is now the dominant COVID-19 strain spreading in the Philippines.

In April, the Philippines had imposed ban on India and later expanded it to include the nine other countries with Delta cases.

The Philippines has reported a total of 2,040,568 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Friday, including 33,873 deaths.