Philippines mulls accepting tourists from countries with medium COVID-19 transmission

The Philippines is considering easing the restrictions for travelers from countries with low or medium COVID-19 transmission, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Wednesday.

On state-run PTV, Nograles said the government was looking at the option of reciprocity in the case of countries that accept Filipinos.

“Kung sila ay tumatanggap ng mga Pinoy at Pinay, baka kung low transmission din naman po sila, baka tayo rin po ay papayag na tumanggap ng mula rin sa bansa nila as reciprocity,” said Nograles, co-chairperson of the policy-making Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

Nograles said the Department of Health (DOH) had prepared guidelines in case the Philippines opens its borders again for international tourists.

Under the DOH guidelines, international tourists coming from low to mid prevalence countries may be allowed to enter the Philippines and shall be screened for symptoms.

Testing shall be required depending on the prevalence of COVID-19 in the countries where they came from.

Asymptomatic individuals will be allowed to travel provided that they strictly adhere to minimum public health standards and symptoms monitoring.

Foreign tourists who showed coronavirus symptoms will be isolated immediately and tested using RT-PCR. Contact tracing will also be initiated.

“Ipaalala ko lamang na ginawa lang ng DOH 'yang guidelines na 'yan in preparation for the eventuality na magbubukas po tayo sa mga countries na low at medium transmission. Wala pa po tayo sa point na 'yan, pinangunahan lang ng DOH para preparado na medyo ang protocols ng DOH,” Nograles said.

“Magka-calculate po tayo para malaman po natin responsibly kung makakayanan ba ng ating health capacity at kung ilan ba ang makakayanan ng ating health capacity.”

The government has allowed non-essential foreign travel of Filipinos, including tourism, starting on Wednesday, subject to compliance with requirements set by the IATF such as roundtrip tickets, health and travel insurance, and a negative antigen result at least 24 hours before departure.

However, if the country of destination requires an RT-PCR test, then the same must be presented instead. -NB, GMA News