Travel restrictions vs countries with new coronavirus variant to lapse on Jan. 31 ‘unless extended’

MANILA, Philippines— An extension of the travel restrictions the Philippines imposed against countries with cases of the new coronavirus variant is not ruled out, Malacañang said Friday.

The ban is set to expire on Jan. 31.

“The restriction remains until January 31, 2021 and would lapse after the aforesaid date,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

Asked if this means that there would be no more extension, Roque told INQUIRER.net that the Jan. 31 expiration remains “as is, unless extended.”

Earlier, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases extended from Jan. 15 to Jan. 31 the travel restrictions on countries with the new coronavirus variant.

The restriction covers the following countries:

The United Kingdom
Denmark
Ireland
Japan
Australia
Israel
The Netherlands
The People’s Republic of China
Hong Kong
Switzerland
France
Germany
Iceland
Italy
Lebanon
Singapore
Sweden
South Korea
South Africa
Canada
Spain
United States of America
Portugal
India
Finland
Norway
Jordan
Brazil
Austria
Pakistan
Jamaica
Luxembourg
Oman
United Arab Emirates
Hungary
Czech Republic

So far, 17 individuals in the Philippines have been confirmed to be infected with the UK variant of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

The first confirmed case is a 29-year-old male patient from Quezon City who recently traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Of the 16 other cases, 12 are from Bontoc in Mountain Province, two were returning overseas Filipino workers from Lebanon, one is from Laguna and one is from La Trinidad in Benguet.

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