BI preparing for implementation of temporary travel ban on India

Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers are now preparing for the implementation of restrictions for persons traveling from India, which will begin on Thursday.

India is struggling to contain a massive surge in COVID-19 cases, prompting the Philippines’ pandemic task force to block the entry of travelers coming from India or those with a travel history to India within the last 14 days preceding arrival beginning April 29 until May 14.

“We are conducting a 100% passport inspection to determine the travel history of an arriving person,” BI port operations division acting chief Carlos Capulong said on Wednesday.

“If we see that the traveler has been to India within the last 14 days, then he will be excluded and boarded on the next available flight back to his port of origin,” he added.

The BI official said the travel ban is not “nationality-specific” and applies to any traveler coming from India. The Department of Health made it clear that the temporary travel ban also covers Filipinos.

Capulong added that they are not expecting passengers from India as the IATF resolution stated that airlines must not allow the boarding of passengers pursuant to travel restrictions.

“Passengers already in transit who will arrive before April 29 may be allowed, but will be referred to the appropriate agencies for stricter quarantine and testing protocols, to be subjected to an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period,” he said.

Two Filipinos have died in India due to COVID-19. Experts said the new variants, including the "double mutant" variant, were largely responsible for the rise in cases in the South Asian country.

Philippine health authorities said this variant has not yet been detected locally.—AOL, GMA News