Philippines extends travel ban on India till September 5

In a recent COVID travel update, the Philippines has extended its travel ban for India and nine other countries till September 5. Besides India, the government has also banned all inbound travellers coming from Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates from entering the country.

The step has been taken owing to the COVID-19 Delta variant spread across the country, informed the presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. Talking to the local media, he said that President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte approved the extension after the current ban expired. The deadly Delta variant was first found in India. Soon after, almost every country shut their borders to travellers coming from India or those who had been to the country. The Philippines was no exception and the country is only allowing returning overseas Filipino workers under the repatriation program.
"These travel restrictions form part of the pro-active measures to slow down the rising number of COVID-19 cases, stop further spread of variants, and increase the country's existing healthcare capacity," informed Roque.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the community transmission of the Delta variant. The WHO also said that Delta is now the dominant strain in Indonesia.
Till now, the Philippines has recorded 1789 Delta positive cases and 33 deaths.