The Philippines will ban travelers from India starting April 29 until May 14, Malacañang said Tuesday as the South Asian nation struggled to contain a surge in COVID-19 infections.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said all travelers coming from India or those with travel history to India within the last 14 days preceding arrival shall be prohibited from entering the Philippines starting Thursday.
Travelers from India already in transit however shall be required to undergo "stricter quarantine and testing protocols," Roque said.
"The Department of Transportation should ensure that airlines are directed not to allow the boarding of passengers entering the country pursuant to travel restrictions imposed by the Office of the President and IATF resolutions except if they are part of the repatriation efforts of the national government," Roque said.
Earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Sec. Teodoro Locsin Jr. said he suggested the travel ban to the government's inter-agency task force on COVID-19 "for everyone's safety."
"I have suggested to the IATF that a travel ban be imposed on all our good friends in the entire Indian subcontinent; it’s not personal; it’s for everyone’s safety for now," he said in a tweet.
"We’ll be able to be together again and we can recall the time when we had to be apart to live," he said.
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The South Asian giant of 1.3 billion people recorded 352,991 new infections and 2,812 deaths on Monday -- its highest levels since the pandemic began -- as its Hindu-nationalist government comes under fire for allowing mass gatherings such as religious festivals and political rallies in recent weeks.
-- with a report from Agence France Presse