A former adviser to the National Task Force Against COVID-19 on Tuesday expressed concern over new government guidelines that allow fully-vaccinated persons to travel without taking a COVID-19 test, saying the move was premature.
In an interview on CNN Philippines, Dr. Tony Leachon said removing the testing requirement would further weaken the country’s weakest link, testing.
“We do very little testing as it is, and now we’re reducing it further,” Leachon said in Filipino.
With only a small percentage of the population vaccinated and the limited supply of vaccines, the government should retain the RT-PCR test requirement for fully vaccinated individuals who wish to travel, he said.
Quirino Province Gov. Dakila Carlo Cua, president of the Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines said local government units were not advised or consulted when the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) released the new guidelines for interzonal (to and from areas with the same quarantine level) and intrazonal (travel to and from areas with different quarantine levels) travel by fully vaccinated people.
In an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo, Cua said many governors expressed concerns and had questions because they were not consulted.
He said the verification of COVID-19 vaccination cards was a concern, because these could be faked.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), in fact, is on the lookout against people who use fake COVID-19 vaccination cards for travel purposes.
In a statement Monday, PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the police would coordinate and work closely with the LGUs in enforcing the latest guidelines.
“I am directing all police offices and units to be vigilant against those travelers who might use fake documents to prove that they are fully-vaccinated.
Under the newly released guidelines of the IATF, a person is considered fully-vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, or two weeks after receiving a single dose of a one-dose vaccine.
The vaccine must have an emergency use authorization or a compassionate special permit from the Food and Drug Administration or be on the emergency use list of the World Health Organization.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that IATF would review the new travel provisions announced last Sunday, taking into account the concerns raised by LGUs.
Meanwhile, Baguio City will maintain a limit on tourist arrivals to a maximum of 3,000 daily to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong admitted that tourist arrivals in the city since June 1, 2021 did not yet exceed the prescribed 3,000 daily limit, however.
Magalong said this rate of tourist arrivals in the city was insufficient to revive tourism, which was one of Baguio’s major economic drivers.
In other developments:
• The OCTA Research Group said Davao City is still classified as a high-risk area for COVID-19 as it continues to log the highest number of new infections nationwide. In their latest monitoring report, the independent team of researchers said Davao City logged an average of 303 new cases daily from June 29 to July 5, while its reproduction number stood at 1.23 and its ICU utilization rate was at 90 percent.
Also classified as high-risk areas by OCTA were the cities of Bacolod, Iloilo, General Santos, Baguio, and Tagum, which all posted reproduction numbers higher than 1, indicating sustained COVID-19 transmission.
• The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that vaccination cards of fully inoculated returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will have to undergo validation by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO). Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III cited an IATF resolution that OFWs fully vaccinated in countries or jurisdictions outside the Philippines must carry their official documentation of complete vaccination or their International Certificate of Vaccination validated through the POLO.