PH Government Speaks on 3 Travelers who Tested Positive for COVID-19
PH – The Philippines is monitoring three (3) travelers from South Africa, Egypt, and Burkina Faso who tested positive for COVID-19.
Countries are now on the watch against the new variant of COVID-19 that was first detected in South Africa. Named by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Omicron, this variant was reported to be “heavily mutated” thus nations are warned about it.
Several countries are quick to implement travel restrictions on travelers from nations that logged cases of Omicron. No less than 17 countries have confirmed cases of the said variant.
Currently, flights from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy to the Philippines are suspended amid the travel ban.
According to the Bureau of Immigration, Filipinos in the 14 Red List countries who wish to go home to the Philippines may opt for a repatriation flight in cooperation with the Philippine embassy or the nearest consulate.
Currently, there is no confirmed case of Omicron in the Philippines but, based on a report on GMA News, PH is monitoring three (3) travelers who tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the report, the three (3) travelers came from South Africa, Egypt, and Burkina Faso. PH presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles expressed that genome sequencing is done on the samples of the travelers who tested positive for COVID-19.
Nograles said that they have yet to receive details regarding the result of the genome sequencing but the Palace assures that it will announce the findings once it is available.
The three (3) COVID-positive travelers are among the 253 travelers from South Africa, 541 travelers from Egypt, and three (3) travelers from Burkina Faso who arrived in PH from November 15 to November 29.
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