COVID update: Philippines extends travel ban on India until Aug 31

In a recent COVID update, the Philippines has announced to extend its travel ban on India till Aug 31. Along with India, the country has banned travellers from nine other countries. The announcement was made after the Philippines recorded 627 fresh cases of the infection and recorded 11 deaths due to the virus.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque stated that any inbound travellers coming from India and nine other countries won’t be allowed to enter until August 31 given a sudden spike in Delta variant of the virus. The deadly second variant continues to haunt most of the Southeast Asian countries.
Besides India, Indonesia has also put a travel ban on people from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. However, the nation is allowing Filipino workers to return from other countries under its repatriation program. The overseas returnees will be isolated for 14 days upon the arrival.

The rising COVID-19 infections in the Philippines fueled by the extremely dangerous Delta variant has prompted the government for a stricter lockdown in several regions. The number of cases in the nation has now reached 1.7 million.