IATF okays shorter isolation for aviation workers

File photo of check-in counters inside the NAIA Terminal 3. INQUIRER.net FILE / Neil Arwin Mercado

The government’s pandemic task force has authorized the aviation sector to implement shorter isolation and quarantine for its workers who test positive for the new coronavirus or got exposed to a patient.

The latest resolution from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious (IATF) will cover airline personnel, ground handlers, maintenance providers, airport security, air traffic controllers, airport workers and other aviation-related personnel.

The IATF said the isolation of mild and asymptomatic confirmed COVID-19 cases who were fully vaccinated and boosted would be up to five days.

Those who are asymptomatic close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases and who have been fully vaccinated and received the booster shot, as well as asymptomatic close contacts who recovered from COVID-19 within the last 90 days, can skip quarantine. —Leila B. Salaverria