Palace: Only countries with local transmission of Omicron will be included in red list

Malacañang on Monday explained the government’s process on the inclusion of certain countries in the Philippine’s red list amid the threat of Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant.

Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Alexei Nograles made the statement following questions about the non-inclusion of Hong Kong in the red list despite the detection of the new variant in the said country.

“Ang napagdesisyunan namin sa IATF, ‘yung pagre-red list ng countries will be dependent kung mayroon nang local case ng Omicron doon sa bansang 'yon,” he said in a public briefing Monday.

(What we have decided in the IATF is that a country will be included in the red list depending on the status of the local case of Omicron in that country.)

Travelers from countries under the red list or areas with high risk for COVID-19 transmission are barred from entering the Philippines.

Meanwhile, travelers from countries and territories under the green list or areas with low risk for COVID-19 transmission are allowed to enter the Philippines and skip facility quarantine.

All other countries, territories, and jurisdictions not indicated are under the yellow list. Travelers from these areas may be allowed to enter, subject to applicable quarantine and testing protocols.

If an Omicron case in a country is considered “imported” and there is no local transmission,  the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Managing of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has the option to retain the yellow or green status of that country, Nograles said.

Despite this, he emphasized that the IATF could override the policy if it is not confident with the surveillance and the genome sequencing activities of that particular country.

“The reason why ‘di natin na-red list ang Hong Kong at 'yung iba pang mga countries is again ‘yung pinaka-consideration natin in red-listing countries is ‘yung detection of a local case ng Omicron in those countries,” he added.

(The reason why we did not include Hong Kong in the red list as well as other countries is because of the non-detection of a local transmission of Omicron in those countries.)

Nograles assured the public that the government is actively monitoring the developments in Hong Kong and other countries.

“We will not red-list that country unless nakikita namin na may high probability na mayroon silang nami-miss out na local transmission ng Omicron na ‘di pa nila nade-detect,” he said.

(We will not red-list that country unless we see the high probability that they are missing out the detection of local transmission of Omicron.)

“We are actively monitoring any and all events happening in all countries, territories, and jurisdictions around the world,” he added.

Travelers from Hong Kong will be required to follow regulations for countries on the yellow list, including being quarantined upon entry to the Philippines pending a negative swab test result.

National Task Force Against COVID-19 adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa last Friday said that Hong Kong should be placed on the yellow or red list after the detection of a new variant.

Currently, the Philippines has placed 14 countries on the red list, barring entry to travelers from Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerlands, Belgium, Italy, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique until December 15.—AOL, GMA News