Philippines suspends inbound flights from UK

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation to suspend all inbound flights from the United Kingdom (UK), where a new variant of Sars-CoV-2 is spreading.

All flights from UK will be suspended effective December 24 to 31, 2020, based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases which passed Resolution No. 90 via video conference Tuesday, December 22, 2020.

The IATF also restricts from entering the country effective 12:01 a.m. of December 24 (Manila time) all passengers who have been in the UK within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines, including those merely transiting.

Those already in transit from the UK and will arrive in the Philippines before 12:01 a.m. of December 24 are exempted.

However, they will be required to undergo stricter quarantine and testing protocols.

Even with a negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result, these inbound passengers from UK will be required to undergo quarantine for 14 days at the Athlete’s Village in the New Clark City.

Outbound travel to UK is still allowed, subject to existing exit protocols. UK includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Philippines joins the list of nations that have restricted UK travel in a bid to block transmission of the new coronavirus variant.

Those that have announced restrictions are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and Bulgaria.

Sars-CoV-2 is the new coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), which has caused the death of more than 1.7 million people worldwide as of December 23, 2020.

Nearly 78 million people have been infected globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

In the Philippines, the death toll from Covid-19 has surpassed 9,000 while a total of 462,815 have been infected. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)