Solons urge gov’t to be vigilant amid COVID-19 wave in China
CONSIDERING the need to be vigilant amid the reported COVID-19 surge, senators said it is imperative to require travelers arriving from China to present testing requirements before they can fully enter the country’s jurisdiction.
Senator Grace Poe said Malacañang should anticipate the lifting of Chinese travel restrictions on January 8 as she urged the need to impose Covid tests on travelers from China.
It was reported that COVID-19 surged recently, and more countries are implementing stricter rules due to the lack of information from Beijing on the current Covid situation in their country.
“Other countries like the US, UK, France, Canada, Japan, South Korea, India, Israel, Morocco, Italy, and Spain have all reimposed their mandatory COVID tests and other rules on arrivals from China. The PH government should decide definitively on the matter and inform all travelers beforehand,” Poe said.
According to Poe, the lack of “proactive” policies is concerning amid the rapidly developing overseas situation.
“Our experience in the past three years of the pandemic has shown that delayed and uninformed COVID-related policies are sometimes more deadly than the pandemic itself,” Poe said.
“Now that we have reopened again, we need to build confidence that the Philippines is well-positioned and, hopefully, better informed in the fight against COVID-19,” Poe added.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, for her part, echoed the same view as she maintained that the safety of each and every Filipino should be the first consideration.
“Sa patuloy na paglobo ng mga kaso ng COVID-19 sa mainland China at iba pang bansa, business as usual is not an option,” Hontiveros said.
At the same time, Hontiveros urged the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force to do what is required of them under the law, saying the situation right now should not be ignored and must be given the right attention and recommendation.
“Bukod sa eligibility ng turista batay sa kanyang vaccination status, nananawagan ako sa IATF na agarang suriin at i-update ang ating color coded travel restrictions, lalo na at inaasahan ang pagdagsa ng mga turista,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros said the government must be very careful in dealing with the problem in order to make sure that Filipinos will not suffer the consequence of facing another surge of COVID-19.
“Tulad na lamang ng pagkakaroon ng single destination entry para sa mga foreign tourists mula sa mga bansang may mataas na insidente ng COVID-19, nang sa gayon ay maiayos ang koordinasyon sa national-local governments na tatanggap sa mga bisitang turista. Kailangan nating masiguradong may sapat tayong kakayahan para tumugon sa kakailanganing testing, tracing, at treatment,” she stressed.
Hontiveros also China to be responsible for following the right protocols based on the agreed International Health Regulations.
“Umaasa rin tayo na ang China, base sa napagkasunduang International Health Regulations noong 2005, ay maging bukas at tapat sa pagbabahagi ng mga datos at impormasyon tungkol sa tunay na kalagayan at estado ng kanilang COVID-19 infections,” Hontiveros said.