DOH recommends 14-day travel ban on countries with new COVID-19 variant

The Department of Health (DOH) has recommended a 14-day travel ban on countries that have detected the new, more contagious COVID-19 variant, in addition to the United Kingdom.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire stated that this recommendation is pending approval from the Office of the President, with final guidelines and effectivity to be released soon.

Countries that have detected the new variant include Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, France, and the Netherlands.

The Philippine Genome Center has begun genome sequencing on samples from the UK and other affected countries to determine if the new variant is present in the Philippines.

Among 85 travelers from the UK who arrived before the travel restriction, one tested positive for COVID-19, while 81 tested negative and three results are still pending.