MANILA, July 30 — The Philippines has extended the travel ban for all inbound travellers from India and nine other countries from August 1 to 15 to prevent the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus Delta variant, Xinhua reported, quoting presidential spokesperson Harry Roque as saying on Friday.
In a statement, Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte approved the travel ban extension to curb the further spread and community transmission of Covid-19 variants in the Philippines.
Apart from India, the Philippines banned travellers from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
However, the Philippines allows returning of overseas Filipino workers under its repatriation programme, but they have to isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
The more virulent Delta variant has spread in the Philippines. The Department of Health said on Thursday that it has detected 97 new Delta variant cases. The detection of new cases pushed the country's tally to 216. At least eight Delta patients have died.
The Philippines has reported a total of 1,572,287 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of Thursday, including 27,577 deaths. — Bernama
