IATF to re-examine tourism policy, quarantine for those returning to PH

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 will re-evaluate the shorter quarantine period for those entering the country.

In the Senate plenary debate for the 2022 national budget, Senator Ralph Recto slammed IATF policy.

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“What is the policy concerning the quarantine when you enter the Philippines? Let’s say the United States—and most of the people there are vaccinated—if you have a vaccine, PCR test, and you come to the Philippines, are you still required to quarantine?” said Recto.

Senator Sonny Angara, who is defending the proposal, replied that they do not need to be quarantined if they come from a country on the green list.

“If you come from a country on the green list, you don’t have to be quarantined. If you are on the yellow country list, which includes the US, you quarantine for five days, and if you test negative, you can go home. But if you test positive, you have to go to a facility-based quarantine,” he said.

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Recto added that the policy needs to be looked at carefully because it will help a lot for the economy, especially if it is open to tourists.

“So why not kung nabakunahan ka na sa Amerika at pupunta ka ng Pilipinas or OFW ka, is it required to quarantine pa rin?” said Recto.

Angara agreed to Recto’s suggestion and said the IATF would meet again.

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IATF to re-examine tourism policy, quarantine for those returning to PH

“Secretary Galvez has assured us that they’re going to discuss it, and they’re going to merge the green and the yellow so that they could have less quarantine and attract more foreign tourists,” he said.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), the country’s average daily reported cases dropped significantly this week.

“Nakapagtala tayo ng 47-percent decrease nationwide. Mas malaking pagbaba ng kaso ngayong linggo kompara noong nakaraang linggo na nasa 20 percent lamang,” said Duque.

According to Duque, the Philippines is only 53rd globally regarding the number of active COVID-19 cases and 5th among the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The  also recorded a 97.32 percent recovery rate, one of the highest recovery rates recorded.

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