No more swab tests needed for fully vaccinated tourists with booster shots
Departure area of Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), Terminal 2 | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu province has further eased border restrictions as threats of COVID-19 continue to subside.
The provincial government decided to drop RT-PCR tests as requirements for entry for travelers, both foreigners and Filipinos, who have been fully vaccinated and administered with one booster shot.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, on May 30, 2022, issued Executive Order (EO) No. 15, effectively scrapping swab tests for travelers from abroad who can present proof that they received at least three doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Fully vaccinated travelers who have not received any booster dose yet, on the other hand, will still have to present negative RT-PCR results taken within 48 hours prior to their departure.
Cebu province’s latest EO is in line with the national government’s decision to eliminate negative RT-PCR results as a prerequisite for travelers from overseas, said Garcia.
Garcia welcomed the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) in implementing more relaxed border protocols.
In turn, the governor hoped this would help increase the number of foreign arrivals in Cebu, home of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), the country’s second-busiest gateway.
“And I am very positive and optimistic that our international arrivals will soon be rapidly increasing,” said Garcia.
While more perks have been availed to fully vaccinated travelers, the government maintained its strict protocols for the unvaccinated ones.
These included the mandatory, facility-based quarantine and at least two rounds of swab tests – the first to be conducted upon arrival and the second during the passenger’s fifth day on quarantine.
/bmjo
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