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The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) lift the travel ban imposed on 10 countries starting September 6 (Monday) amid spike of COVID-19 Delta variant infection in the country.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a statement said President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the IATF to end the travel ban covering India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

“International travelers coming from the abovementioned countries shall, however, comply with the appropriate entry, testing and quarantine protocols, depending on the country’s approved ‘listing,'” Roque said.

The travel ban was implemented in some of the countries since early May, which aimed to prevent the entry of the more transmissible variant that first emerged from India. It has since been extended and expanded to more countries multiple times.

The World Health Organization (WHO) this week confirmed community transmission of the variant in the Philippines.

On Aug. 15, the Department of Health announced the country’s first case of the Lambda variant, which studies have shown to be more transmissible and might affect vaccine efficacy.

Travelers who were fully vaccinated in “green” countries or those with low COVID-19 risk would be allowed to shorten their facility quarantine to 7 days, from the previous 10 days, upon arrival in the Philippines.

These are the following countries:

•  American Samoa
•  Anguilla
•  Australia
•  Benin
•  Burkina Faso
•  Cameroon
•  Cayman Islands
•  Chad
•  China
•  Comoros
•  Republic of the Congo
•  Djibouti
•  Equatorial Guinea
•  Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
•  Gabon
•  Grenada
•  Hong Kong
•  Hungary
•  Mali
•  Federated States of Micronesia
•  Montserrat
•  New Caledonia
•  New Zealand
•  Niger
•  Northern Mariana Islands
•  Palau
•  Poland
•  Saba
•  Saint Pierre and Miquelon
•  Sierra Leone
•  Sint Eustatius
•  Slovakia
•  Taiwan

The health department has recorded over 2.040 million COVID-19 cases, including nearly 159,000 active infections, as of Friday.

In late June, India declared a new coronavirus variant called Delta Plus, a variant of concern. Authorities said it showed increased transmissibility, and that nearly 2 dozen cases have been detected in 3 states.

The Philippines has also maintained the mandatory use of face shields in public areas as an additional precaution against the Delta variant.