Duque: IATF recommended travel ban on Indonesia

Published July 14, 2021 02:01 PM By JULIA MARI ORNEDO,GMA News

The Philippines’ Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) recommended imposing a ban on travelers from Indonesia which is battling a surge in COVID-19 cases, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Wednesday.

“Nag-aantay lang po tayo ng kasagutan mula sa OP (We are just waiting on the Office of the President) but the IATF has already recommended that Indonesia be included in the list of countries that we initially imposed a travel ban [on],” he said in a pre-SONA forum.

Earlier in the day, presidential spokesman Harry Roque announced that the government extended until July 31

the temporary ban on travelers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, and Oman.

On Tuesday, Indonesia reported a record-high 47,899 new COVID-19 infections and announced plans to order oxygen supplies for patients.

The Southeast Asian nation has also extended nationwide restrictions until July 20 amid the surge.

Duque earlier said Philippine experts were studying a travel ban on Indonesia due to the threat of the more transmissible Delta coronavirus variant.

The Philippines has only logged 19 Delta variant cases so far, all of whom are returning overseas Filipinos.

The country has tallied over 1.48 million cases with 1.40 million recoveries and 26,092 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon. —KG, GMA News

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