The Philippine government has announced the list of “green” countries and jurisdictions. Travelers from these countries will have a shorter quarantine period. It is expected that this list will be updated and more areas will be included in the list.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, areas with low incidence rate of COVID-19 will soon be added to the “green list”.
“Well, depende po sa kaso ng Covid dun sa mga lugar na ‘yun, magbabago po ‘yan. Pero ang tinitignan po natin hindi lang po percentage ng mga nabakunahan sa mga areas classified as green countries kung hindi, yung prevalence rate din po,” says Roque during a press briefing.
Roque also announced that there are possibilities of lifting quarantine periods later on but not now due to the emergence of the new strain of coronavirus.
“There is always a possibility, pero sa ngayon po, from what I know, wala pa rin pong bansang hahayaang pumasok ang kahit sino na wala pa pong quarantine. Lalong-lalo na po dahil mayroon nga po tayong Delta variant,” says Roque.
Moreover, Roque defended the recent decision set by the Inter-Agency Task Force to exclude the United States from the “green” list.
“Alam ko po marami nagtatanong na ang Estados Unidos hindi pa po kasama diyan sa tinatawag nating green countries kasi mataas nga po ang mga kaso ng Covid sa Estados Unidos ngayon,” says Roque.
Here are the countries included in the “green” list:
Albania,
American Samoa,
Anguilla,
Antigua and Barbuda,
Australia,
Benin,
Belize,
The British Virgin Islands,
Brunei,
Burkina Faso,
Burundi,
Cayman Islands,
Chad,
China,
Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast),
Eswatini,
Falkland Islands,
French Polynesia,
Gambia,
Ghana,
Greenland,
Grenada,
Hong Kong,
Iceland,
Isle of Man,
Israel,
Laos,
Liberia,
Malawi,
Malta,
Marshall Islands,
Mauritius,
Micronesia,
Montserrat,
Morocco,
Mozambique,
New Caledonia,
New Zealand,
Niger,
Nigeria,
Northern Mariana Islands,
Palau,
Rwanda,
Saba,
Saint Barthelemy,
Saint Kitts and Nevis,
Saint Pierre and Miquelon,
Sierra Leone,
Senegal,
Singapore,
Sint Eustatius,
South Korea,
Taiwan,
Togo,
Turks and Caicos Islands (UK),
Vietnam,
Zimbabwe
Passengers arriving in the Philippines from these countries who also have been fully vaccinated will only have to spend 7 days in the quarantine facility. They must also carry their full vaccination documentation or International Certificate of Vaccination (ICVs) which will be validated by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office.
