Takeaway: PH to heighten COVID-19 alerts for travelers from China
The Department of Health (DOH) has warned the country to heighten monitoring and inspection of all travelers from China, said the “extremely urgent” department memorandum released on Dec. 31, 2022.
The memorandum declares that there is an urgent need for the Philippines to intensify the monitoring and implementation of border control protocols at all ports of entry for travelers from China.
President Marcos said, Thursday, that incoming Chinese travelers might require to undergo COVID-19 testing. The DOH, as well, two days ago said that there is no need to implement more stringent restrictions targeted at travelers from China. The department further said that existing health protocols and strengthened surveillance systems are adequate.
Meanwhile, a growing list of countries has now been imposing new COVID-19 measures for travelers from China. Countries like Japan, India, Italy, Malaysia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States have declared scaling up their protocols following the surging outbreak of COVID-19 cases in China as it abandoned its “zero-COVID” policy. RQJ
Since 2011, Regel Javines has been writing online, sharing news and analysis on a range of noteworthy and urgent social issues. He completed his bachelor’s degree in office administration at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)—Taguig Campus, where he also served as editor-in-chief of the official school newspaper. See Regel’s published articles here.