BI to implement order banning all flights from UK starting Dec. 24

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Wednesday it would be implementing the resolution banning all flights from the United Kingdom effective December 24. 

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said under Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 90, flights from the UK will be temporarily banned from December 24 until December 31. 

Morente added that even transiting passengers from the UK are included in the travel restriction.  

“Consequently, effective December 24, all passengers who have been to the United Kingdom in the last 14 days are temporarily restricted from entering the Philippines,” Morente said in a statement. 

“I have instructed a strict implementation of our 100% passport inspection to ensure that we are able to detect anyone who has been to the UK in the last 14 days,” he added. 

However, Morente said that “Filipinos will be allowed to enter the country even after December 24,” but they will also be referred to the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) and the One-Stop Shop for implementation of strict quarantine and testing protocols.

Likewise, those who arrive from the UK before December 24 shall be allowed entry and be referred to the BOQ, Morente said. 

The BI said that following the IATF’s resolution, outbound travel to the United Kingdom remains allowed, subject to the presentation of a confirmed round trip ticket for short-term our tourist visa holders, travel and health insurance to cover travel disruptions in case of Covid-19 infections during their allowable period of stay abroad, and signing at the ports of a declaration acknowledging the risks involved in traveling, including the risk of delay in their return trip.

The ban was imposed amid reports of a new coronavirus strain believed to be a more infectious strain of the coronavirus disease. [ac]