By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Fully vaccinated travelers from the 57 green places may enjoy 7-day quarantine in Phl (PNA File) |
From
tomorrow, Jul 5, overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong may start having their
vaccination certificates validated in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office to
qualify for seven-day quarantine period when traveling to the Philippines.
This was after the Inter-Agency Task Force included Hong Kong among 57 “green” countries and jurisdictions from where travelers who have had two jabs of a Covid-19 vaccine at least two weeks before departure may avail of the shortened quarantine in the Philippines.
The regular quarantine period of 10 days will still apply for those flying in from outside the green list, whether vaccinated or not; and those coming from the designated green places, but are not fully vaccinated.
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Filipino overseas who could present international certificates of vaccination (ICVs) were allowed to avail of the green lanes beginning Jul 1, provided they complied with other requirements. The green list was released on Wednesday, Jun 30, by the IATF.
Previously, only those who had their vaccination in the Philippines were allowed to enjoy the shortened quarantine, with health officials saying it would be difficult to verify vaccination records from overseas.
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| An international certificate of vaccination, which is not available in HK (Reuters) |
Also among those included in the exempted list is China, but surprisingly not Macau, which has probably the one of the best infection control measures in the world. Also out of the list are the United States, Canada, and much of Europe, which all have a high vaccination rate.
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Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said more places could be added to the list should data show that they have a low incidence rate of Covid-19.
“We’re not just looking at the percentage of people vaccinated in areas classified as green countries, but the prevalence rate as well,” he told a press conference on Jul 2.
He earlier enumerated the following 57 places included in the green lane:
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Albania
American
Samoa
Anguilla
Antigua
and Barbuda
Australia
Benin
Belize
The
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Burkina
Faso
Burundi
Cayman
Islands
Chad
China
Cote
d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Eswatini
Falkland
Islands
French
Polynesia
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Gambia
Ghana
Greenland
Grenada
Hong
Kong
Iceland
Isle
of Man
Israel
Laos
Liberia
Malawi
Malta
Marshall
Islands
Mauritius
Micronesia
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
New
Caledonia
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New
Zealand
Niger
Nigeria
Northern
Mariana Islands
Palau
Rwanda
Saba
Saint
Barthelemy
Saint
Kitts and Nevis
Saint
Pierre and Miquelon
Sierra
Leone
Senegal
Singapore
Sint
Eustatius
South
Korea
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| Full vaccination records may be verified through POLO |
Under IATF Resolution 123-C, “green” countries are those classified by the Department of Health (DOH) as “’low-risk countries or jurisdictions based on disease incidence rate.”
Vaccinated travelers in “green” countries must
carry their official vaccination record validated through POLO or present their
ICVs, whichever is applicable, the resolution states.
Those who have been vaccinated in the
Philippines must carry their vaccination card, which should be verified before
their departure through a certificate issued by the Department of Information and
Communications Technology or the city health officer of the local government
unit that administered the jabs.
The recognized vaccines are those that have either
an emergency-use authorisation (EUA) or a compassionate special permit from the
Philippines Food and Drug Administration, or is included in the World Health
Organisation’s emergency-use authorization listing
Those who qualify for the green lane should
undergo a RT-PCR test on their fifth day in quarantine and will only be
released on their seventh day if the result is negative. If they test positive
they will be moved to an isolation facility.
Those who are required to undergo the full
10-day quarantine will be tested on their 7th day in a designated quarantine
facility, and will be released on the 10th day if the test result is
negative. They will also be advised to observe home quarantine for another four
days.
The Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ) is tasked to
ensure the strict monitoring of fully vaccinated individuals while they are in
an isolation facility.
Meanwhile, a ban on passenger flights on the
following countries that remain severely affected by the Delta variant has been
extended until Jul 15: Bangladesh,
India, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.
Health Undersecretary and Spokesperson Rosario
Vergeire said in an earlier press conference that the variant is present in
many other countries, but the country cannot possibly impose a ban on all of
them.
"We can see right now that there are 92
countries with the Delta variant and we cannot isolate the Philippines from all
of these countries," Vergeire said.
Instead of adding to the banned list, officials
say the Philippines should just strengthen its border control.
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