Philippines bans travel from UAE, Hungary

The Philippine government has included the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hungary in its list of countries with travel restrictions to prevent the spread of a more contagious variant of COVID-19.

The ban will take effect starting 12:01 a.m. on January 17 until January 31, according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

Foreign travelers from these two countries arriving before Jan. 17 are required to undergo strict facility-based quarantine for 14 days even with negative RT-PCR test results.

The DOH recommended the inclusion of UAE after a Filipino who recently traveled there tested positive for the new variant.