IATF approves COVID-19 testing on 7th day for incoming travelers

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved the Department of Health (DOH)’s proposal to have incoming travelers tested for COVID-19 seven days from their arrival in the country, a health official said Friday.

“Naaprubahan ng IATF kahapon itong ating nirekomenda na magkaroon nitong (The IATF approved yesterday our recommendation for) seventh day testing, no testing upon arrival… and completed 10-day quarantine here at the national level,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online briefing.

Travelers will be endorsed to their respective local governments after the 10th day to complete the mandatory two-week quarantine in their hometown.

Vergeire said concerned agencies will draft protocols for the enforcement of the new policy following the IATF’s approval.

“Nagka-agree naman po lahat ng concerned agencies diyan na the soonest time possible ay maumpisahan natin itong ganitong protocol (The concerned agencies agreed to implement this protocol at the soonest time possible),” she said. 

Previously, incoming travelers were required to undergo COVID-19 testing on the fifth day from their date of arrival. 

The DOH recommended that testing be done at a later date after experts found that the viral load remains high even until the seventh or eighth day, meaning COVID-19 testing could yield more accurate results. 

“This is a process para ma-ensure natin that even though nakakapasok pa rin ang ibang travelers, especially Filipinos, sa ating bansa, nasisiguro po natin naka-quarantine natin sila nang maayos o naa-isolate natin silang maayos to break the chain of transmission,” Vergeire said.

(This is a process to ensure that even though some travelers, especially Filipinos, can still enter the country, we make sure that we quarantine or isolate them properly to break the chain of transmission.)

The Philippines has temporarily banned the entry of travelers from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to block the entry of the B.1.617 coronavirus variant first detected in India. 

Vergeire said the variant has so far been detected in 21 countries and contains mutations linked to increased transmissibility, reduced antibody neutralization, and immune escape.

It has not been classified as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization, unlike the variants first detected in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), and Brazil (P.1).

The Philippines has recorded 1,075 cases of the B.1.351 variant, 948 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, and two cases of the P.1 variant.  — RSJ, GMA News