Philippines reopens to international tourists who have been vaccinated against Covid-19

 Philippines reopens to international tourists who have been vaccinated against Covid-19

Although the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase, the Philippines has decided to reopen to tourists who have been fully vaccinated with 2 doses of Covid-19 vaccine from all countries and lift the control requirements. epidemic next month after nearly 2 years of closure to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic.

Philippine Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila (Source: CNN Philippines)

In a statement today (January 28), Acting Spokesperson for the President of the Philippines, Karlo Nograles, said that from February 1, the Philippines will remove the classifications of the green - yellow - red list of countries. according to the Covid-19 status and will resume visa-free travel for short-term visits of citizens from 157 countries that were allowed free entry into the Philippines before the pandemic began. The visa-free entry list does not include China, the Philippines' largest tourist market, as well as Taiwan and India, but it does include Manila's remaining top 10 tourism sources, such as the United States. , Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada and the UK.

Philippine Deputy Health Secretary Rosario Vergeire said it makes no sense to restrict international visitors when the rate of Covid-19 infection in the Philippines is so high, "maybe even higher in some countries".

According to the new regulations, visitors from the above countries who have been fully vaccinated, coming for tourism and business purposes must present a certificate of vaccination against Covid-19 vaccine from the World Health Organization, VaxCertPH or an electronic vaccination certificate issued by a foreign government, provided that the country recognizes the VaxCertPH vaccine certificate.

According to Mr. Nograles, minors are exempt from these requirements. All travelers must also present a negative RT-PCR test performed within 48 hours prior to departure and do not require facility quarantine. Instead, visitors will self-monitor for any symptoms for 7 days. Unvaccinated foreigners will be banned from entering the country from February 16.

With the opening of tourism, the spokesman for the President of the Philippines hopes that the tourism industry will be revived, making a great contribution to people's livelihoods and economic growth of the country. Previously, the Philippines' plan to welcome tourists back from December 1, 2021 was suspended after the appearance of a super-infectious variant of Omicron across the country. The Philippine government has tightened restrictions across the national capital region and other provinces in recent weeks as Omicron fuels a record spike in Covid-19 cases.

Up to now, this Southeast Asian country has recorded more than 3.4 million cases of Covid-19, including 53,000 deaths. The Philippines has achieved half of its goal of vaccinating 110 million people to achieve herd immunity.