Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DOT) has expressed support for president Rodrigo Duterte’s call to shorten the quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers.
Duterte last week urged the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to cut the quarantine period from 10-14 days to seven days for incoming travellers who are vaccinated against Covid-19, reported local media.
Philippines looks to cut quarantine for vaccinated visitors; airport workers at Bohol-Panglao International Airport pictured
According to news reports, the president said the costs associated with paying hotels used as quarantine facilities has financially burdened the government.
Reports also cited interior secretary Eduardo Año, who is vice chair of the IATF-EID, as having said that guidelines are being finalised to shorten the quarantine period for fully vaccinated visitors to five to seven days.
Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that easing quarantine rules “is a crucial step towards the eventual resumption of international travel once our borders reopen, leading to the recovery of the pandemic-hit sector”.
The tourism chief said that the DOT has been pushing for this move since May 2021, thus the setting up of green lanes with countries that have zero to low Covid-19 transmission.
Based on the current IATF-EID guidelines, fully vaccinated inbound travellers that stayed exclusively in jurisdictions or countries classified under the “green list” for 14 days immediately prior to arrival in the Philippines qualify for seven-day facility-based quarantine.
Meanwhile, those coming from “yellow risk” jurisdictions, whether fully vaccinated or not, must undergo a ten-day facility-based quarantine and four-day home quarantine.
“This move to ease quarantine restrictions is also important to our kababayans (fellow citizens) who have been longing to be reunited with their families as the holiday season approaches. We also recognise the financial burden of isolating in hotels for a long period of time,” Romulo-Puyat said.
“This is a welcome development that brings us closer to safely reopening our country to international travellers. Tourism had been a major driver of the Philippine economy until the pandemic shut down the global travel industry in 2020,” she added.
Romulo-Puyat also reiterated that the strict implementation of health and safety protocols, such as mask-wearing and physical distancing measures, must remain in place.
She said: “Again, we must emphasise that reopening our tourist destinations should not be at the expense of the health and safety of everyone concerned.”
Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DOT) has expressed support for president Rodrigo Duterte’s call to shorten the quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers.
Duterte last week urged the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to cut the quarantine period from 10-14 days to seven days for incoming travellers who are vaccinated against Covid-19, reported local media.
According to news reports, the president said the costs associated with paying hotels used as quarantine facilities has financially burdened the government.
Reports also cited interior secretary Eduardo Año, who is vice chair of the IATF-EID, as having said that guidelines are being finalised to shorten the quarantine period for fully vaccinated visitors to five to seven days.
Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that easing quarantine rules “is a crucial step towards the eventual resumption of international travel once our borders reopen, leading to the recovery of the pandemic-hit sector”.
The tourism chief said that the DOT has been pushing for this move since May 2021, thus the setting up of green lanes with countries that have zero to low Covid-19 transmission.
Based on the current IATF-EID guidelines, fully vaccinated inbound travellers that stayed exclusively in jurisdictions or countries classified under the “green list” for 14 days immediately prior to arrival in the Philippines qualify for seven-day facility-based quarantine.
Meanwhile, those coming from “yellow risk” jurisdictions, whether fully vaccinated or not, must undergo a ten-day facility-based quarantine and four-day home quarantine.
“This move to ease quarantine restrictions is also important to our kababayans (fellow citizens) who have been longing to be reunited with their families as the holiday season approaches. We also recognise the financial burden of isolating in hotels for a long period of time,” Romulo-Puyat said.
“This is a welcome development that brings us closer to safely reopening our country to international travellers. Tourism had been a major driver of the Philippine economy until the pandemic shut down the global travel industry in 2020,” she added.
Romulo-Puyat also reiterated that the strict implementation of health and safety protocols, such as mask-wearing and physical distancing measures, must remain in place.
She said: “Again, we must emphasise that reopening our tourist destinations should not be at the expense of the health and safety of everyone concerned.”