MANILA: The Philippines extended entry restrictions for another two weeks, till Jan 31 on travelers from 32 places to curb the spread of the COVID-19 variant often known as B117, first detected within the UK.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) approved the advice to increase the travel restrictions, stated presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a press release, the list of places includes the UK, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and the US.
The Philippines reported its first case of the UK COVID-19 variant on Wednesday, according to a press release by the Philippines’ Department of Health.
The case was a Filipino man who arrived from the United Arab Emirates on Jan 7. He was swabbed and quarantined in a hotel upon arrival. The UAE is at the moment not on the list of the 32 places.
The Philippines also announced that contact tracing protocols would be strengthened and expanded to “third-generation contacts” for recognized COVID-19 variant cases.
All recognized close contacts of the cases will be quarantined for 14 days in special facilities and the remaining contacts from the flight record will be advised of the suitable quarantine protocols.
Those that are found positive will bear entire genome sequencing, apart from the prescribed testing and quarantine protocols, said Roque.
The IATF also accredited continuing the weekly “genomic biosurveillance” amongst incoming passengers and local cases, with priority given to hospitalized patients, re-infected patients, and people in clusters.
The Philippines has reported 494,605 cases and 9,739 deaths as of Thursday, according to the Department of Health.
