Philippines lifts travel ban on Bangladesh among 10 nations

The Philippines will lift the travel ban for all inbound travellers from 10 countries, including Bangladesh, from Monday, the presidential spokesperson said on Saturday. 

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement that the ban, put in place in April then expanded to more countries in July to prevent the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, will be lifted on Monday, reports the Hindustan Times.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation of the inter-agency Covid-19 task force to lift the current travel restrictions in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the UAE, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Roque said that travellers from these 10 countries will have to spend 14 days in quarantine upon arrival. "International travellers coming from the above-mentioned countries shall, however, comply with the appropriate entry, testing, and quarantine protocols," Roque said in a statement.

Foreign tourists are still banned from entering the country except for holders of special visas such as diplomats and foreign spouses of Filipino citizens.

The Philippines is grappling with soaring Covid-19 infections and has reported 2,040,568 Covid-19 cases, including 33,873 deaths, as of Friday.

According to the Philippines' department of health, there were 20,310 new Covid-19 infections on Friday. Data shows that the caseload is the second-highest single-day tally since the coronavirus pandemic began in January last year.