Philippines extends travel ban on passengers from 10 countries, including Pakistan

The Philippines has announced an extension of travel bans on travellers from 10 countries, including Pakistan and India, until the end of August.

According to the British news agency Reuters, the Philippine presidential spokesman said on Friday that “this decision has been made in view of the increase in the delta, a highly contagious strain of the coronavirus.”

The Philippines imposed a travel ban on April 27 following an increase in Corna cases, adding more countries. These include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Authorities in the Philippines are trying to control the most common causes of the coronavirus in four months.

For the second day in a row on Thursday, the number of coronavirus cases in the country stood at more than 12,000, while hospitals in some areas were running out of space for patients.

The spokesman said in a statement that the Coronavirus Task Force had recommended an extension of the travel ban to August 31 instead of August 16, which was approved by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The country’s capital, the Manila region, with 13 million people living in 16 cities, is still under lockdown to control the Delta variant, while the government has stepped up vaccinations in the country.

Of the 110 million people in the Philippines, 11% are fully vaccinated.

The Coronavirus has so far killed 29,050 people in the Philippines.
Due to the growing number of corona cases, intensive care units, isolation beds and wards are running out of space for more patients in the Manila region.