Amid mounting COVID-19 cases, BI poised to bar travelers from India

Health workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) carry wood to prepare a funeral pyre for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) victim during a mass cremation at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, April 26, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

MANILA, Philippines — As COVID-19 cases and deaths mount in India, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it is now preparing to refuse entry to travelers coming from the said country starting Thursday.

According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, the entry of travelers coming from India or those with a travel history to India within the last 14 days are barred from entering the Philippines.

This came after the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) announced on Tuesday that the Philippines will bar the entry of travelers from India starting April 29 to May 14.

“We will implement this measure seen by the IATF as our response to the emerging situation in India,” said Morente in a statement on Wednesday.

“The IATF deems that this proactive restriction must be put in place to slow down the surge in COVID-19 cases, stop further spread of variants, and allow the health system to prepare, essentially protecting more lives,” Morente said.

Meanwhile, BI Port Operations Division Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong clarified that the travel ban is not “nationality-specific,” meaning the ban applies to anyone coming from the region.

“We are conducting 100% passport inspection to determine the travel history of an arriving person,” said Capulong.

“If we see that the traveler has been to India within the last 14 days, then he will be excluded and boarded on the next available flight back to his port of origin,” he added.

Capulong added that they are not expecting incoming passengers from India as the IATF resolution clearly stated that airlines are directed not to allow the boarding of passengers pursuant to travel restrictions.

“Passengers already in transit who will arrive before April 29 may be allowed, but will be referred to the appropriate agencies for stricter quarantine and testing protocols, to be subjected to an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period,” Capulong explained.

On Tuesday, April 27, India reported 323,144 new cases, bringing the country’s overall caseload to 17.64 million.

While the country’s death toll now stands at 201,187, as of Wednesday, April 28.

The rise in cases was triggered by the spread of a COVID-19 variant dubbed as the “Double Mutant” variant — formally named B.1.617 — which was first detected in the South Asian nation.

According to the World Health Organization, the said variant is found in at least 17 countries worldwide.

The Department of Health, however, affirmed that the variant has yet to be detected in the Philippines.

To date, the variants detected in the Philippines are those that were first discovered in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil

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