Over 250 travelers arrived in PHL from South Africa from Nov. 15 to 29 — DOH

A total of 253 travelers arrived in the Philippines from South Africa from November 15 to 29, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday.

In a message to reporters, the DOH said 249 were returning overseas Filipinos while four were foreign nationals.

“BOQ has started to locate these passengers. No positive case was reported on re-test while the three foreign nationals from Region VI tested negative on RT-PCR re-test last December 1,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a press briefing.

According to Vergeire, the Bureau of Quarantine and the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Units have contacted 71 travelers (68 returning overseas Filipinos and three foreigners) while 182 are still being verified.

Of the 71 travelers, one returning overseas Filipino is under home quarantine while the rest are under facility quarantine.

A total of 67 individuals have not yet been re-tested, data from the DOH showed.

The Philippines has temporarily banned flights from South Africa, Botswana, and other countries with local cases of the Omicron variant, which was first detected in southern Africa.

The temporary measure was announced by Malacañang on the evening of November 26. — VBL, GMA News