On Tuesday night, the Palace also announced that travelers from or with a travel history in India for the past 14 days will not be allowed to enter the Philippines.
The travel ban will last until May 14.
Experts said the new COVID-19 variant in India was “double mutant” and caused the spike in COVID-19 cases in India.
Last week, it marked a new milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic after it reported 314,835 new daily cases, the highest one-day tally worldwide.
“The situation is very critical,” Dr. Kirit Gadhvi, president of the Medical Association in the western city of Ahmedabad, told Reuters.
“Patients are struggling to get beds in COVID-19 hospitals. There is especially acute shortage of oxygen.”
The air force has also sent to other neighboring countries to get oxygen supply.
Many of the deaths from COVID-19 in India recently were due to a lack of oxygen.
Philippines bans travelers from India until May 14
The Delhi high court called what is happening today is “tsunami of disease”, where a record high of those testing positive for the disease was reported for three days in a row
“We never thought a second wave would hit us so hard,” Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the executive chairman of Biocon & Biocon Biologics, an Indian healthcare firm, wrote in the Economic Times.
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to India Ramon Bagatsing Jr. said Tuesday that two Filipinos died of COVID-19 in the said country.
According to Bagatsing, the two Pinoys tested positive for COVID-19 on April 23 but died three days later.
“It is really bad here. May dalawang nasawi [na Pilipino]. We learned they were positive in April 23 then April 26, wala na. It happened very fast. Traydor itong virus na ito. They call it double mutant strain,”” Bagatsing said during the Laging Handa briefing.
“They (those who died) are of managerial level. I cannot give further details to give due respect to the family,” he added.
The ambassador said 20 other Filipinos in India are also diagnosed with COVID-19.
“They are confined, isolated,” he said.
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