The Philippines on Wednesday added France to its Red List of countries with the highest set of restrictions for arrivals as authorities guard against the Omicron coronavirus variant, Malacañang said Wednesday.
Passengers who have been to France 14 days prior to their arrival in the Philippines from Dec. 10 to 12 will be required to undergo facility-based quarantine for two weeks, Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles said.
Upon arrival and on the 7th day, they will have to take an RT-PCR testing, Nograles said. Even with a negative test result, they must still complete the prescribed quarantine period.
From Dec. 13 to 15, entry of anyone who has been to France within the last 14 days will be banned regardless of their 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/territories/jurisdictions," said Nograles, noting testing and quarantine protocols for red list areas will apply to them.
Minors must follow the testing and quarantine protocols for the parent or guardian traveling with them regardless of vaccination status, he said. Unless symptomatic, only children aged three and below are exempt from the negative RT-PCR test result requirement before boarding the flight, he added.
Nograles said passengers who arrived before Dec. 10 and are currently under quarantine remain subject to the testing and quarantine protocols in effect at the time of their arrival.
Malacanang said these restrictions do not apply if one merely transited France without leaving the airport and was not cleared by immigration authorities to enter. Protocols for passengers who have not been to any Red List applies to them.
The inter-agency task force on COVID-19 earlier banned flights from some European countries where the heavily mutated variant has also been detected, namely, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy.
Also included in the said list of high risk territories are South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique.
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