Travel Restrictions To Keep In Mind For The New COVID-19 Alert System

It's been one year and eights months since the pandemic started. People moving from one place to another is one of the fastest modes of infection transmission. In order to slow down the surge in Covid-19 cases, to stop further spread of variants, to give more time for our fronliners to cope, and to protect lives, the Republic of the Philippines Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF) approves the following recommendations as it continues to implement protocols, measures, and restrictions effective as of October 8, 2021: 

Fully-vaccinated individuals coming from either “Green” or “Yellow” List countries/territories/jurisdictions should undergo facility-based quarantine until the release of their negative Reverse Transcription- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing taken on the fifth day and they will be required to undergo home quarantine until the tenth day with the day of arrival being the first day. They shall be monitored by The Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) while in the facility. Moreover, foreign nationals shall be required to secure their own pre-booked accommodation of at least six days.

Unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or individuals whose vaccination status cannot be independently verified/confirmed by Philippine authorities as valid and authentic coming from either “Green” or “Yellow” List countries/territories/jurisdictions shall be required to undergo facility-based quarantine until the release of their negative RT-PCR testing taken on the seventh day. They shall be required to undergo home quarantine until their fourteenth day with the day of arrival being the first day. They shall be monitored by The Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) while in the facility. Furthermore, foreign nationals shall be required to secure their own pre-booked accommodation of at least eight days.

The following shall be acceptable for purposes of verification/confirmation of vaccination status:

a. A certification from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the country of origin for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their spouse, parent/s, and/or children traveling with them. 

b. Either their VaxCertPH digital vaccination certificate or BOQ-issued International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICV) for Filipinos and foreigners fully vaccinated in the Philippines 

c. The national digital certificate of the foreign government which has accepted VaxCertPH under a reciprocal arrangement or BOQ-issued ICV for non-OFWs and foreigners fully vaccinated abroad

The following protocols for close contacts of probable, suspect, and confirmed COVID-19 cases shall be observed: 

1. Fully vaccinated individuals who are close contacts of probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases may undergo a seven-day quarantine period, provided that the individual remains asymptomatic for the duration of the seven-day period with the first day being the date immediately after the last exposure. In the event that RT-PCR Test needs to be performed on the asymptomatic individual, it may be tested not earlier than the fifth day after the date of the last exposure. For close contacts who may have been traced beyond the seventh day from last exposure and who have remained asymptomatic, no testing and quarantine shall be required. Should the RT-PCR Test yield a positive result, or he/she becomes symptomatic, he/she shall follow the prescribed testing and isolation protocols. 

2. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals who may be close contacts of suspect, probable, and confirmed COVID-19 cases shall undergo fourteen-day quarantine. 

3. An individual shall be considered as having been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 if  more than or equal to two weeks after having received the second dose in a two-dose series or more than or equal to two weeks after having received a single-dose vaccine. Then the vaccines administered to the individual are included in any of the following: Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) List or Compassionate Special Permit (CSP) issued by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration or Emergency Use Listing of the World Health Organization. 

4. The following persons: those below eighteen years old; fully vaccinated individuals over sixty-five years of age; fully vaccinated individuals with immunodeficiencies, comorbidities, or other health risks, and fully vaccinated pregnant women shall be allowed point-to-point interzonal travel to areas under General Community Quarantine and/or Modified General Community Quarantine subject to the guidelines and strict health protocols as may be prescribed by the Department of Tourism and the reasonable regulations of the LGU of destination. 

Embassy of the Philippines Norway Iceland (2021, October). Covid-19 Public Advisory No. 57: Testing 

and Quarantine Protocols for Arriving Passengers from Green and Yellow Countries (As of 08 October 2021). https://www.philembassy.no/newsroom/covid-19-public-advisory-no-57-testing-and-quarantine-protocols-for-arriving-passengers