UAE, Hungary added as travel ban due to new virus variant expands

MANILA, Philippines — The government on Friday added the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hungary to the list of countries subject to travel restrictions in the Philippines

This was after the Department of Health confirmed reports that a Filipino traveler from Dubai had tested positive for a novel coronavirus variant that originated from the United Kingdom.

Now covering 34 countries, the travel ban was supposed to end on Jan. 15 but was extended to Jan. 31.

Apart from the two countries added on Friday, the ban covers the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, China including Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain, the United States, Portugal, India, Finland, Norway, Jordan, Brazil, Austria, Pakistan, Jamaica, Luxembourg, and Oman.

The UAE was not yet included in the list when the DOH reported on Wednesday that a Quezon City resident who arrived from Dubai had tested positive for the new variant. The traveler, a 29-year-old real estate, left the UAE city on Jan. 7.

According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, all countries in the updated list have confirmed cases of the coronavirus variant.

Starting Jan. 17 at 12:01 a.m., foreign passengers coming from those countries would be prohibited from entering the Philippines, Roque said.

Filipinos coming from those countries will be allowed to enter but will have to undergo a facility-based quarantine for 14 days.

Minors

Malacañang also amended the rules for incoming, unaccompanied Filipino minors coming from those countries. They are not allowed to board their flights until Jan. 31, unless they are included in the government’s repatriation program.

The repatriated minors would be turned over to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, which is tasked to ensure their safety and observance of quarantine rules.

All unaccompanied Filipino minors using Philippine airports, notwithstanding the prohibition against their boarding, would not be sent back but would instead be turned over to an authorized social welfare officer.

Genome sequencing

Roque also said weekly genomic biosurveillance, which is conducted by the DOH, the Philippine Genome Center and the UP National Institutes of Health, would continue.

In an online briefing on Friday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH would start the genome sequencing of samples taken from passengers who have tested positive of COVID-19.

Genomic sequencing compares a sample taken from a diagnosed patient with that of previously confirmed positive cases. It is used to determine the structure of the virus, as well as any possible mutations.

“There was instruction already that [the samples of] all arriving passengers who will test positive will be subjected to genome sequencing,” Vergeire said.

The DOH also urged close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases to cooperate and keep their communication lines open.

“If a person does not cooperate with the government, there could be sanctions, especially if he or she is included as one of the close contacts,” Vergeire added

She noted some phone numbers written on contact tracing forms turned out to be either wrong or “unattended.” Many calls were also being rejected, she said.

Citing Republic Act No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act, the DOH official warned that people ignoring the government’s contact tracing efforts face imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to P50,000.

Virus case update

The DOH said an additional 2,048 patients have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, bringing the national tally to 496,646.

There were 27,033 active cases, of which 84.5 percent were considered mild, 7.4 percent symptomatic, 2.8 percent severe, 4.9 percent critical and 0.42 percent moderate.

Meanwhile, another 551 COVID-19 patients have recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 459,737.

The death toll, however, rose to 9,876 with 137 more patients succumbing to the respiratory disease.