South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe taken out of Philippines' green list

The Philippine government has taken out South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe from its green list.

Cabinet Secretary and acting Palace spokesperson Karlo Nograles made the clarification on Saturday a day after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) approved the temporary suspension until December 15 of inbound international flights from South Africa, Botswana, and other countries with local cases or with the likelihood of occurrences of the B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant.

"This is to clarify that the Inter-Agency Task Force's (IATF) temporary suspension of inbound international flights from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe contained in IATF Resolution 150, supersedes the earlier Green List classification of the three abovementioned countries in IATF Resolution 148-A," Nograles said in a statement sent to reporters.

"Likewise, the temporary suspension of inbound international flights from Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini and Mozambique shall take effect immediately and until 15 December 2021," he added.

The government previously included South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe in its list of green countries or areas with low risk for COVID-19 transmission.

In a separate statement, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the travel restrictions on the Faroe Islands and the Netherlands remain in place until December 15, after which the IATF will decide whether to extend or lift them.

The Faroe Islands and the Netherlands are currently on the red list or high risk areas for coronavirus transmission. 

Entry of travelers from red list countries is prohibited, except for Filipinos under a government or non-government-initiated repatriation program.

The Philippines has allowed fully vaccinated travelers from green list or low risk countries for COVID-19 transmission to skip facility quarantine upon arrival provided that they have a negative result of their RT-PCR test taken 72 hours before departure. —KG/VBL, GMA News