Philippines extends travel ban on India, 9 other nations
Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 Aug, 2021 11:07 AM
Manila, Aug 13 (IANS) The Philippines has extended its travel ban for all inbound travellers from India and nine other nations until August 31 as cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant have continued to spike across the Southeast Asian country, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Friday.
The Delta variant has spread in the Philippines, where 627 cases have been reported, including 11 deaths, reports Xinhua news agency.
Aside from India where the Delta variant was first detected, the Philippines also banned travellers from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
However, the country allows returning overseas Filipino workers under its repatriation program, but they will be isolated for 14 days upon the arrival.
The Philippines is grappling with soaring Covid-19 infections fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, prompting the government to re-impose a hard lockdown in Metro Manila and other regions.
The Philippines now has more than 1.7 million confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 29,539 deaths.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday termed the 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by the Prime Minister as necessary to save millions of lives from the deadly COVID-19,
From the corridors of power in New Delhi to the bylanes of Hyderabad to a village in Nagaland, the entire country shuts down starting 12 a.m. on the intervening night of March 24 and 25.
An astounding 84 per cent of people in India believe that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is handling the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak well.
A day after being denied permission to land in India, a KLM flight with 113 Indians who were stranded in Amsterdam landed in New Delhi on Sunday evening.
