Lists other areas with ‘very high’ COVID cases, crime, terrorism, unrest
Washington has issued its highest alert warning urging American citizens not to travel to 12 countries, including the Philippines.
Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, Ecuador, Kosovo, Paraguay, Peru, Anguilla, French Guiana, Moldova, and Belarus were also put on the US State Department’s Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory list on January 31.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday followed by advising Americans against travel to the Philippines and a dozen new countries with COVID-19 cases at “Level Four: Very High.”
Since mid-December, the US CDC has added more than 60 countries and territories to its list of places to avoid, citing the Omicron coronavirus variant. It added Anguilla, French Guiana, Moldova and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to its highest level on Monday, bringing its list to 130 nations.
The State Department said in the Philippines, US citizens must exercise increased caution due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping and COVID-19 infections.
There was no immediate reaction from Malacanang, but it was a downer for the local travel industry, as the Palace had announced last Friday it would reopen the country to fully vaccinated tourists from 157 countries on February 10, as well as lift quarantine restrictions for them.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration said it was prepared for the influx of arriving international passengers following the government’s decision to reopen the country to foreign tourists in eight days.
Under the latest resolution issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, fully-vaccinated foreign tourists coming from countries under Executive Order 408 are again allowed to enter the country without a visa for 30 days.
“We are ready, and we have the available manpower to address this projected increase in passenger volume in our airports,” Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement.
Morente also reported a sharp decline in the number of Immigration officers who are still infected with the COVID-19 virus.
He said that as of Monday, 401 BI personnel, most of them assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, who earlier tested positive for the virus or have gone on isolation and quarantine have already returned to work.
“We continue to operate at full capacity in the airports as we anticipate an increase in international flights and passengers in the next few weeks,” the BI chief added.
The Washington travel advisory, released by the State Department, cited the Omicron coronavirus variant bar to travel and for its citizens, where it indicated “a very high level of COVID-19 in the country.”
At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice, saying “Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) authorized vaccine.
“Before planning any international travel, please review the CDC’s specific recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers.”
The State Department specifically told Americans not to travel to Marawi City in Lanao del Sur and the Sulu archipelago “due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping.”
According to Washington, terrorist and armed groups were continuing to conduct kidnappings on land and at sea for ransom, bombings, and other attacks targeting US citizens, foreigners, civilians, local government institutions, and security forces.
Civilians are at risk of death or injury due to conflict between remnants of terrorist groups and Philippine security forces in Marawi, it said, adding the US government had limited ability to provide emergency services to American citizens in Mindanao as US government employees must obtain special authorization to travel there.
Lawyer Carlos Capulong, BI port operations chief, said as of Jan. 31 only 23 immigration officers assigned in the airports were still recovering from COVID-19.
Capulong said 14 of these personnel were stationed at the NAIA, four at the Clark airport, two in Mactan, two in Kalibo, and one in Davao.
“To cope with a sudden or unusual increase in passenger volume we have formed a reserve team of immigration officers from other BI officers who will be tapped to augment and assist our frontliners at the airport if the need arises,” Capulong said.
The BI advised the airlines and the traveling public to view the updated guidelines in the bureau’s website and Facebook page.
In related developments, the Philippine government was urged Tuesday by a former government adviser to require arriving international travelers to undergo rapid antigen tests after the facility-based quarantine requirement was removed for the fully-vaccinated, and as Metro Manila and nearby provinces de-escalated to Alert Level 2.
“I wish we had a medical safeguard if we no longer require facility-based quarantine and allow travelers to go home immediately.
They can buy the kits at the airport if we can’t provide it for free.
Then they can do that within 48 hours and submit it to their village chairman,” Dr. Tony Leachon, a former adviser to the National Task Force Against COVID-19, said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.
The Department of Health earlier released guidelines on COVID-19 self-test kits following the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of two brands.
Arriving travelers are currently required to present a negative RT-PCR or confirmatory swab tests within 48 hours of their travel.
But this does not ensure that a traveler did not get infected during their flight, said Leachon.
Leachon cited as an example a Filipino woman who arrived from the US and skipped her hotel quarantine last month upon arrival and went to a party in Poblacion, Makati.
The Philippines recorded on Monday 14,456 new COVID-19 cases and a 28 percent positivity rate versus the hundreds of fresh infections and 2 percent positivity rate last month when Alert Level 2 was also imposed in the capital region, Leachon said.
