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PH backpedals from travel restrictions on US over new coronavirus strain

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Kristine Sabillo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA (3rd UPDATE) - The Philippines on Wednesday backtracked from restricting entry of travelers from the United States as a measure to keep out a new variant of the coronavirus.Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said overseas Filipinos from the US would still be allowed entry.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/30/20/us-kasama-na-sa-mga-bansang-may-travel-restrictions-dahil-sa-bagong-covid-19-variant">US, kasama na sa mga bansang may travel restrictions dahil sa bagong COVID-19 variant</a></li></ul>Roque later said that non-Filipino travelers from the US would also be allowed entry yet as the health department had still to confirm the ban, quoting Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.&quot;While we await the confirmation, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has underscored that all inbound international travelers from countries not covered by the travel restrictions shall strictly finish the 14-day quarantine following the prescribed quarantine protocols which allow home quarantine after testing negative via RT-PCR at the point of entry,&quot; Roque said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/30/20/pagsama-sa-us-sa-mga-bansang-may-travel-restrictions-binawi-ng-malacaang">Pagsama sa US sa mga bansang may travel restrictions, binawi ng Malacañang</a></li></ul>Prior to this announcement, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III mentioned the possibility of restricted entry from the US, following the report of a more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus that was detected in Colorado in the US.“The policy is yes isasama natin pansamantala (We will include them temporarily),” he said.“Remember this is not a permanent ban. This is only a temporary time to give us time to assess our situation and to check whether this new variant has already arrived in the Philippines or not yet,” Duque added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/30/20/us-detects-first-case-of-covid-19-variant">US detects first case of COVID-19 variant</a></li></ul>Vergeire earlier told the media that they would first “wait for the US to officially notify to the WHO IHR (International Health Regulations)” or for the US government to officially announce that it has detected the new variant inside their borders.Before Christmas, the Philippines imposed a travel ban on travelers from the United Kingdom. It later expanded the travel restriction to foreign travelers coming from around 20 countries.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/29/20/philippines-widens-travel-ban-to-prevent-entry-of-new-covid-19-strain">READ: It&#x27;s final: Philippines expands travel ban due to new coronavirus variant</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CoCn2TjRCkQ?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>Duque explained that “any country that has reported the new UK variant will be subject to the temporary ban.”He said that the country’s laboratories, namely the Philippine Genome Center, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and the National Institutes for Health, were currently gene sequencing samples to check if the Philippines already had the new COVID variant.The Philippine Genome Center recently said it would take them 2 weeks to finish their gene sequencing.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/30/20/philippines-to-confirm-in-2-weeks-if-new-virus-variant-already-here">READ: Philippines to confirm in 2 weeks if new virus variant already here</a></li></ul>Meanwhile, Duque dismissed criticisms that the Philippines did not immediately impose a travel ban.“Isa tayo sa mga naunang magpatupad ng travel ban,” he said.(We are among the first to impose a travel ban.)Duque detailed how the government had been meeting since Dec. 22 and how it imposed to travel ban beginning Dec. 24.He also pointed out that the ban had already been expanded until Jan. 15.Although only foreign nationals are prohibited from entering the Philippines, Filipinos will undergo a 14-day quarantine regardless of the result of their RT-PCR test.

MANILA (3rd UPDATE) - The Philippines on Wednesday backtracked from restricting entry of travelers from the United States as a measure to keep out a new variant of the coronavirus.

MANILA (3rd UPDATE) - The Philippines on Wednesday backtracked from restricting entry of travelers from the United States as a measure to keep out a new variant of the coronavirus.

PH backpedals from travel restrictions on US over new coronavirus strain

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PH backpedals from travel restrictions on US over new coronavirus strain

Kristine Sabillo,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 30, 2020 12:50 PM PHT

|

Updated December 31, 2020 12:19 PM PHT

Read More:

travel

coronavirus

COVID-19

COVID new variant

COVID infectious variant

travel ban

Department of Health

Philippine travel ban

Maria Rosario Vergeire

francisco duque

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