Gov’t seeks shorter quarantine period for travelers

DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez

MANILA – Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said the agency is eyeing to further ease restrictions for travelers to help in the recovery of the aviation industry.

“I think right now, under our study, is to lessen the number of quarantine days for a person that will be put under quarantine, especially for the vaccinated people,” Lopez said in a virtual press briefing Wednesday.

He said this proposal is being taken up at the technical level for consideration of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) in meetings this week or next week.

“The way we can help the sector, in general the travel sector, is to have some kind of reopening, easing the travel restriction as many people get vaccinated,” the trade chief added.

Lopez said reducing the number of days for quarantine will help to “resuscitate demand” for the travel sector.

“Apart from all the incentives they are all entitled to, fixing the demand is part of the equation,” he said.

Current IATF protocol requires fully vaccinated travelers to undergo quarantine for seven days and get tested on the fifth day. (PNA)