Gov’t urged to review, enhance travel restrictions amid COVID-19 surge in other countries

Medical workers attend to patients at the intensive care unit of the emergency department at Beijing Chaoyang hospital, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Beijing, China December 27, 2022. (China Daily via REUTERS)

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Risa Hontiveros calls on the government to review and update the Philippines’ travel restrictions amid soaring COVID-19 cases in other countries, including China.

Hontiveros on Friday said health safety nets must be set up for travelers bound for the Philippines, especially for those coming from countries with a high number of COVID-19 cases.

“Sa patuloy na paglobo ng mga kaso ng COVID-19 sa mainland China at iba pang bansa, business as usual is not an option,” she said in a statement.

(With the ballooning number of COVID-19 cases in mainland China and other countries, business as usual is not an option.)

Hontiveros urged the government to put up a wall of protection in the country to curb a possible surge in COVID-19 infections.

“Bago sana lumarga ang Pangulo sa planong state visit sa China, kailangang magtakda muna ang administrasyon ng karagdagang layers of health security and safety protocols para sa mga turistang papasok sa Pilipinas ngayong bagong taon,” she said.

(Before the President flies out to China for his planned state visit, the administration needs to set necessary layers of health security and safety protocols for tourists coming into the Philippines this new year.)

Hontiveros also nudged the country’s COVID-19 inter-agency task force to immediately look into updating the color-coded travel restrictions to prepare for an expected influx of tourists.

“Pag-aralan na rin dapat ng Malacañang ang iba’t-ibang paraan para na rin sa kaligtasan at kalusugan ng mamamayang Pilipino,” she said.

(Malcañang should also study various means of ensuring the safety and health of the Filipino people.)

The Senate deputy minority leader likewise floated the idea of having single destination entry for tourists from countries with high cases of COVID-19, noting that this would better streamline the coordination of the national and local governments when accommodating travelers.

“Kailangan nating masiguradong may sapat tayong kakayahan para tumugon sa kakailanganing testing, tracing at treatment,” she said.

(We need to make sure that we have sufficient capacity to respond to the necessary testing, tracing and treatment.)

Moreover, Hontiveros expressed hopes that China would divulge more information about the true state of COVID-19 infections in their country as agreed upon in the International Health Regulations, which enjoins 196 countries to work together in detecting and reporting public health emergencies across the globe.

She also encouraged the Filipino people, especially the frontline workers in the travel industry, to be more cautious of the threats of infection by adhering to minimum public health standards, and completing their COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots.

“Bagaman kinikilala natin ang freedom of movement ng bawat isa, natutuhan na natin noong 2020 na ang pagbabantay sa ating mga border ay isang matibay na paraan upang siguraduhing matatag ang proteksyon ng mga Pilipino laban sa COVID-19 at mga bagong variants nito,” the opposition lawmaker said.

(While we acknowledge the freedom of movement of every individual, we also learned in 2020 that guarding our borders is a strong means of protecting Filipinos against COVID-19 and its new variants.)

Hontiveros stressed: “Kung isinara natin ang mga borders natin noon, naiwasan sana ang ganoong karaming nagkasakit at namatay, at mas naihanda ang ating health system.”

(Had we closed our borders before, we could have avoided the volume of infections and deaths then and better prepared our health system.)

Countries like India, Japan, Italy and the United States have imposed curbs on travelers from China as it faces yet another wave of COVID-19 cases.

READ: Global alarm grows over China’s COVID-19 surge 

The Department of Health, however, maintained that there is no need to close or tighten the country’s border control measures for travelers coming from China.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. later noted that the Philippines will impose additional COVID-19 restrictions for travelers from its Asian neighbor “as long as it is based on science and we feel that there’s a need.”

READ: Marcos Jr. considering imposing COVID-19 tests for travelers from China  

 gsg/abc