PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has approved the extension of the travel ban on 10 countries until August 15, 2021, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said on Friday, July 30, 2021.

The ban covers travelers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand.

Travelers coming from the said countries or those who have been there 14 days prior to arrival in the Philippines are prohibited from entering the country.

Returning overseas Filipinos who are part of Philippine government repatriation efforts are exempted from the ban.

The ban was imposed as a measure to prevent the entry of the Delta variant in the Philippines.

As of July 29, however, there have been 216 Delta variant cases in the country.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases also updated the list of “green” countries/jurisdictions/territories.

Fully vaccinated travelers from these countries will undergo only seven days of facility-based quarantine upon arrival in the Philippines.

These include Albania, American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Dominica, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Hungary, Kosovo, Laos, Mali, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Montserrat, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Romania, Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of Netherlands), Saint Barthelemy, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Singapore, Sint Eustatius, Slovakia, Taiwan and Togo. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)