As the omicron-fueled spike eases, the Philippines removed a nearly two-year ban on international travellers on Thursday, providing a lifeline to the country’s tourism and allied industries.
Foreign travellers who have been fully vaccinated and tested negative for the virus from 157 countries with visa-free agreements with the Philippines will be welcomed back and will no longer be required to quarantine upon arrival. A risk classification system that barred travellers from the worst-affected countries was also abolished.
Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat remarked, “We will begin the next chapter in the road to recovery.” She went on to say that reopening the border would bring back employment and produce cash for tourism-related businesses and towns.
To combat a pandemic that produced the country’s worst economic slump since the 1940s and pushed unemployment and hunger to a record high, the Philippines enacted one of the world’s longest lockdowns and tightest police-enforced quarantine restrictions.
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