DOH not yet inclined to recommend more countries on travel ban list

The Department of Health on Friday said it was not inclined to recommend more countries to be subjected to a travel ban by the Philippine government due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“None as of the moment. Let’s keep it at that,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told reporters in Malacañang.

Duque’s comment comes as the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases was set to meet later Friday to review the entry ban on foreign travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The DOH is a member of the task force.

Disappointed by the travel ban, Taiwan’s government on Wednesday discussed possible retaliatory measures against the Philippines that may include the cancellation of the visa-free entry for Filipinos.

Taiwan insisted that it is an independent state and urged Manila to lift the ban.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III had also requested the lifting of the ban on departing Filipino workers.

Malacañang said the safety of the Filipino people, not politics, was the reason for the temporary travel ban. — MDM, GMA News