CHINA together with four other countries have been included on the list of countries with travel restrictions for having cases of the new variant of novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced on Tuesday the inclusion of the People’s Republic of China, Pakistan, Jamaica, Luxembourg and Oman on the list.
He said the restriction will be in effect from January 13, 2021 until January 15, 2021.
Once the restriction takes effect, foreign travelers from these countries will be barred from going in the country.
However, Filipinos traveling from these places will still be allowed to enter the Philippines, but must undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Aside from the five countries, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) already imposed travel restrictions for 27 other territories in relation to the international spread of the more infectious variant of Covid-19, B117.
These are the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel,; the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea and South Africa.
Also on the list are Canada, Spain, the United States, Portugal, India, Finland, Norway, Jordan and Brazil.
The travel restrictions are also set to expire on Friday unless the IATF recommends extending its period beyond the said date.
‘New variant not yet here’
The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday clarified that the new SARS-CoV-2 variant has not yet been detected in the country, particularly in Metro Manila, contrary to reports circulating on social media.
“The DOH and the Philippine Genome Center (PGC), to date, have not detected the United Kingdom variant, or any new variant of SARS-CoV-2, in any of the positive samples tested,” the DOH said.
The DOH and the PGC have assured that they are closely working together in order to intensify ongoing biosurveillance efforts.
They also called on the public to refrain from disseminating unverified information which only creates panic and confusion.
“Furthermore, whether or not a new variant is detected, the DOH reiterates that strict adherence to minimum public health standards (MPHS) is the best defense against Covid-19 and strongly urges the public to continue practicing MPHS across all settings to lower the rate of infection and reduce the risk of viral mutation,” the DOH concluded.
Covid cases
As of 4 p.m. of January 12, an additional 1,524 Covid-19 cases were logged, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 491,258. There were also 44 recoveries and 139 deaths.
Of the total number of cases, 4.8 percent (23,532) are active cases, 93.3 percent (458,172) have recovered, and 1.94 percent (9,554) have died.
Six laboratories were not able to submit their data to the Covid-19 Data Repository System on January 11, 2021.