THE Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) has proposed a reduced quarantine period for arriving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat on Tuesday, May 25, said that the agency wants to cut the quarantine period for those vaccinated from the previous 10 days to seven days under the proposed “green lane” at the airports.
“We’re exploring to reduce hindi naman para tanggalin but to reduce the quarantine (We’re exploring to reduce but not to remove it entirely),” she said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
Puyat cited the quarantine restrictions of Hong Kong and Thailand as examples for the proposal.
“In Thailand, if you’re fully vaccinated, it’s down from 10 days to seven quarantine days for fully vaccinated. In Hong Kong, it’s also down from 21 days also to seven days for fully vaccinated but coming from certain countries,” she said.
“So, we were thinking that if other countries are already doing it, it should also be discussed with the Department of Health, the health experts,” added Puyat.
In another interview with ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), the Tourism chief explained that the proposal is for encouraging OFWs and tourists to visit the Philippines.
“The point is we have to start somewhere. For example for balikbayans, our third largest market, it could be like a test, like if the DOH, the other agencies allow to reduce to seven days, at least it’s not 10 days, we can encourage more people to come, to test at least,” she said.
“We are still proposing at least shorter quarantine days to encourage them to come home,” she added.
Last week, the DOT proposed setting up a “green lane” that will facilitate the entry of foreign travelers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“The green lane will pave the way for the reopening of our tourist destinations to leisure travelers who are now fully vaccinated. It will give the jobs back to many of our tourism workers and gradually revive the tourism industry under safe conditions,” Puyat said Friday, May 21.
“We must keep pace with our neighbors and the rest of the world in slowly reopening our tourist destinations. We must be ready for the visitors when the whole world is ready to safely travel again,” she added. n
