The Philippines will impose travel restrictions from India starting on Thursday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday, adding the ban will remain in place until May 14.
"All travelers coming from India or those with travel history to India within the last 14 days preceding arrival shall be prohibited from entering the Philippines," Roque said in a statement, without stating the reason for the travel ban.
India is battling an exponential surge of COVID-19 infections driven by a new COVID-19 variant. The travel ban is a precautionary measure to prevent the entry of a highly virulent variant detected in that South Asian country.
Roque said the travel ban could also apply to travelers from countries that reported the new variant detected in India.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters in an online briefing that the Philippines has not detected the variant raging in India.
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Tuesday 7,204 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,013,618.
