The Philippine government announced the temporary suspension of COVID-19 risk classification for travelers beginning February 1.
Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said there would be different travel requirements for arriving passengers based on the vaccination status.
The red, yellow, green list classification has been removed. There will be no distinction regardless of whether a traveler came from a high-, moderate-, or low-risk country.
Fully vaccinated passengers must show a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours before leaving the country of origin. After that, they are no longer required to stay in a facility quarantine. However, they should observe themselves at home for symptoms for 7 days, Nograles said.
Meanwhile, unvaccinated and partially vaccinated passengers must present a negative RT-PCR test result taken within 48 hours before departure. After that, they must stay at a facility-based quarantine facility. He added that they will undergo an RT-PCR test on the fifth day and complete their 14-day quarantine at home.
Earlier, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is pushed to open the country to foreign tourists from non-visa countries on the “green list.”
This is to revitalize the tourism industry, which has been severely affected by the restrictions on re-filing COVID-19 cases in the country.
According to DOT data, from the 12.80 percent contribution of tourism to the gross domestic product in 2019, it will fall to 5.40 percent in 2020.
PH removes red, yellow, green list classification
More than 1 million tourism workers will lose their jobs in 2020.
Meanwhile, the number of Omicron variants in the country has increased after 618 new cases were confirmed in another batch of samples that were subjected to ‘genome sequencing’ by the Department of Health.
In a DOH statement yesterday, the UP-Philippine Genome Center and UP-National Institutes of Health discovered in 677 samples the new 618 Omicron variants and 35 Delta variants.
In the Omicron variants, its original lineage of B.1.1.529 was discovered, and sub-lineages of BA.1 and BA.2.
“The earliest detection of the BA.2 sub-lineage was on December 31, 2021 and was found to be the majority of Omicron cases in the latest batch,” said DOH.
The DOH is already investigating why BA.2 sub-lineage is more numerous than others. They clarified that there is no significant difference between BA.1 and BA.2 when it comes to infectious speed and severity.
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