Rising COVID-19 cases prompt bid to limit inbound passengers temporarily

MANILA, Philippines — To further stem the rise of COVID-19 cases in the country, the National Task Force against COVID-19 (NTF) has recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte to limit the number of inbound overseas Filipino workers.

NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Tuesday said the task force recommended suspending the entry of foreigners and non-essential travelers to the country for two weeks.

He added that the number of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will also be limited to 1,500 per day.

“Nagkaroon tayo ng parang emergency meeting na lilimitahan po natin yung inbound passengers na only OFWs,” he said in a Palace briefing.

(We had an emergency meeting where we discussed limiting inbound passengers to OFWs only.)

“‘Yung mga foreigners, at saka non-essential at saka yung returning OFs ay ili-limit po natin, isu-suspend muna natin for two weeks,” he added.

“Hinigpitan po natin ngayon ang ating inbound passengers. Ngayon, ni-limit po natin sa 1,500,” he further said.

(The foreigners and non-essential travelers and returning overseas Filipinos will be limited, suspended for two weeks.)

The Philippines is facing a surge of COVID-19 cases driven by the emergence of new coronavirus variants.

On Monday, the Philippines logged 5,404 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total of active cases to 53,479.

This is by far the highest number of COVID-19 increases for 2021, and it is also higher than the infections last August 26 — when Metro Manila was also experiencing a surge — which were 5,227 cases.

READ: Record-high for 2021: 5,404 new COVID-19 infections bring active cases to 53,479

ac