President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed a resolution lifting the quarantine requirement for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travelers entering the Philippines.
In a Twitter post, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay confirmed that the President has signed the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 2 allowing inbound travelers without the need for quarantine.
Under the resolution, inbound travelers will still have to present a negative result of a laboratory-based rapid antigen test.
The resolution said Filipinos and foreign nationals 15 years or older shall present a remotely supervised or a laboratory-based rapid antigen negative test result administered and certified by a health care professional in a health care facility, laboratory, clinic, pharmacy, or other similar establishments.
The test must be “taken within 24 hours prior to the date and time of departure from the country of origin/first port of embarkation in a continuous travel to the Philippines, excluding lay-overs; provided, that, he/she has not left the airport premises or has not been admitted into another country during such lay-over,” it added.
Inbound travelers who fail to present a negative pre-departure test result will be required to undergo a laboratory-based rapid antigen test upon arrival at the airport.
Accompanied minors below 15 years old who are unvaccinated must follow quarantine protocols of their parents or an accompanying adult or guardian traveling with them.
Unaccompanied minors below 15 years old who are unvaccinated must also follow protocols.
Inbound travelers who test positive for COVID-19 through rapid antigen tests must be subjected to prevailing quarantine and isolation protocols of the Department of Health.
Meanwhile, pre-departure testing for fully vaccinated inbound travelers will no longer be required.
A fully vaccinated person must have received the primary series COVID-19 vaccine more than 14 days prior to the date and time of departure from the country of origin or port of embarkation.
They must also present a World Health Organization International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis; VaxCertPH; national or state manual/digital vaccination certificate of the country/foreign government; and other proof of vaccination.
Currently, masks are no longer required in indoor and outdoor settings in the Philippines.
Last month, Mr. Marcos emphasized the need to improve access to the country’s tourist destinations to attract more visitors.
He also underscored the need to ensure that these destinations are accessible through improved tourism infrastructure.
On Wednesday, the Philippines logged 775 new COVID-19 infections, the second day straight of fewer than 1,000 new infections recorded daily.
The Department of Health (DOH) also said active cases went down to 18,689 from 19,340 on Tuesday.
The new infections pushed the nationwide tally to 4,005,840.
The National Capital Region (NCR) registered the most cases in the recent two weeks with 4,679 cases reported, followed by Calabarzon with 2,861, Western Visayas with 1,658, Central Luzon with 1,653, and Davao Region with 1,141.
The country’s recovery tally increased to 3,923,006, while the death toll rose to 64,145.
The Health Department said the country’s bed occupancy slightly stood at 23.7%, with 6,739 beds occupied while 21,680 were vacant as of Monday, October 31.
A total of 8,641 individuals were tested, while 312 testing labs submitted data as of Tuesday, November 1.