Belmonte: Arayat's QC travel ban 'without basis', discriminatory

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte criticized Arayat, Pampanga's decision to restrict entry for Quezon City residents over fears of the new virus variant, calling it 'totally without basis' and discriminatory.

Belmonte clarified that the patient who tested positive for the new coronavirus variant did not return to his residence in Quezon City but stayed in a quarantine hotel during his 14-day mandatory quarantine period.

Arayat Mayor Emmanuel Alejandrino imposed travel restrictions on Quezon City residents as part of measures against the spread of the new variant, which was detected in a Filipino who had returned from the United Arab Emirates.

The patient is a male resident of Quezon City who left for Dubai on December 27 and returned to the country on January 7 aboard an Emirates flight.