France added to red list effective Dec. 10, 2021

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Wednesday has placed France on the Philippines' red list, effective December 10 to 15, amid the threat of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said.

The news came a day after the Department of Health said the IATF agreed not to add more countries to the red list for now.

France will be the 15th country on the red list, which consists of countries where the Omicron variant has been detected.

In a statement, Nograles said the escalation of France to the red list will be effective starting 12:01 a.m. on December 10.

Travelers who have been to France in the last 14 days who will arrive on December 10 to 12 will be required to undergo facility-based quarantine for 14 days with an RT-PCR test on the seventh day.

Notwithstanding a negative RT-PCR result, the completion of the 14-day quarantine is required, Nograles said.

Starting 12:01 a.m. of December 13 until December 15, entry in any port of the Philippines will not be allowed for travelers coming from or who have been to France within the last 14 days prior to arrival in the Philippines, regardless of vaccination status.

Only Filipinos returning to the country via government-initiated or non-government-initiated repatriation, and Bayanihan Flights may be allowed entry, subject to existing testing and quarantine protocols for red list countries.

"As with all international inbound travel, the testing and quarantine protocols for minors shall follow the testing and quarantine protocols of the parent/guardian traveling with them, regardless of the minor’s vaccination status," Nograles said.

"This notwithstanding, children 3 years old and below, regardless of country of origin, shall be exempt from the requirement of presenting a negative RT-PCR test result before boarding the flight, unless symptomatic," he added.

Further, he said notwithstanding the foregoing, travelers who arrived prior to December 10 and are currently undergoing quarantine will complete the testing and quarantine protocols in effect at the time of their arrival.

"All passengers, whether Filipinos or foreigners, merely transiting through France shall not be deemed as having come from or having been to said country if they stayed in the airport the whole time and were not cleared for entry into such country by its immigration authorities," he said.

"Upon arrival in the Philippines, they shall comply with the applicable testing and quarantine protocols for passengers who have not been to any Red List country/territory/jurisdiction," he added.

The Philippines updated its red list after the detection of the more infectious Omicron variant.

Countries on the red list are deemed COVID-19 high risk areas and travelers from these countries are temporarily barred from entering the Philippines.

The Bureau of Quarantine has been monitoring passengers from red list countries who arrived in the country before the travel ban was announced. — BM, GMA News