IATF allows rapid antigen test as entry requirement

MANILA. A foreign passenger wearing a protective mask as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus pushes his cart as he arrives at Manila's International Airport in the Philippines on Thursday, February 10, 2022. (AP)

By: THIRD ANNE PERALTA-MALONZO, SunStar Philippines

ARRIVING international travelers can now present as a travel requirement a result of a rapid antigen test conducted by a healthcare professional, said acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar Wednesday, April 6, 2022.

He said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved it, and the test may be done in a healthcare facility, laboratory, clinic, pharmacy, or other similar establishments from the country of origin of the traveler 24 hours before departure.

Previously, the IATF only approved laboratory-based antigen test results from arriving foreign passengers.

On February 10, for the first time since the start of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic in 2020, the National Government allowed the entry of tourists from non-visa countries.

The acceptance of travelers from visa-required countries started on April 1.

The National Government also lifted the mandatory isolation protocols for arriving passengers.

Among the conditions are foreign travelers should be fully vaccinated, except for children, while they are also required to present a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test result taken 48 hours prior to their trip, or a negative antigen result taken 24 hours before departure.

They are also only required to self-monitor within seven days upon their arrival and report to the local government unit of their destination if they manifest any symptom of Covid-19.

Andanar said the IATF also approved the acceptance and recognition of the national Covid-19 vaccination certificates of Bangladesh, Mexico, Panama and Slovak Republic, for purposes of arrival, quarantine protocols, as well as for inter zonal/intrazonal movement.

The IATF directed the Bureau of Quarantine, the Department of Transportation – One-Stop-Shop and the Bureau of Immigration to recognize only the proofs of vaccination thus approved by the IATF. (SunStar Philippines)