A lawmaker Sunday urged the government to drop its eTravel registration requirement for incoming international travelers, now that the World Health Organization (WHO) no longer considers COVID-19 a global public health emergency.
Camarines Sur Rep. Lray Villafuerte said scrapping the requirement would further entice tourists and prospective investors to come to the Philippines as the country transitions fully to the post-pandemic “new normal.”
“Junking the tedious, time-consuming eTravel registration process would further convince the international investor community that the domestic economy has completely reopened for business and entice more international tourists to come see the Philippines,” Villafuerte said.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Sunday welcomed the WHO decision to lift its COVID-19 global health emergency declaration.
“The decision shows that countries around the globe, including the Philippines, have succeeded through collaborative effort in fighting the highly infectious novel coronavirus and its variants, though they remain a threat to public health,” he said.
He reminded the public “to wear a face mask when needed, wash your hands, isolate when sick, observe physical distancing, and get vaccinated” to avoid infection from COVID-19.
He urged the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to prescribe minimum health protocols consistent with the WHO decision.
“I think our people have learned to live with the virus. Though there is nomask mandate, many of them continue to wear masks and observe physical distancing. They are aware of the residual threat and they are not letting their guard down,” he said.
He said the lifting of the global health emergency should pave the way for the country to sustain economic growth.
“It should translate to increased mobility, more economic activities and therefore additional job and income opportunities for our workers and their families,” he added.
Nine new COVID-19 deaths were recorded by the Department of Health (DOH) in its published report issued Saturday.
With the new fatalities, the total number of deaths was 66,453.
The report also showed 735 new recoveries, which brought to 4,024,220 the total number of those who recovered from the coronavirus infection.
There were 1,878 new cases and 10,195 active cases in the country.
The total number of reported COVID-19 cases has now reached 4,100,868.
On Sunday, the independent OCTA Research group noted that the nationwide COVID-19 positivity rate was 19.3 percent as of May 6.
On May 5, it warned that Metro Manila’s positivity rate could climb to 25 percent.
OCTA called for continued release of COVID-19 advisories so that Filipinos could be informed.