Despite the recent COVID-19 surges reported overseas, the Philippines is still intent on reopening its borders for fully vaccinated tourists on April 1.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III made the assurance, citing the country's high vaccination rate in the primary series.
"Tuloy pa rin 'yun," Duque said on the border reopening.
(It’s still pushing through.)
"Kasi kahit naman 'yung primary series natin, maganda-ganda, 73 to 74% ng 90 million eligible population ay meron nang kumpletong bakuna," he told DZRH in an interview.
(Because we have good statistics on our primary series, with 73 to 74% fully vaccinated individuals out of our 90 million eligible population.)
Malacañang announced last week that fully vaccinated travelers may enter the Philippines without an exemption document starting April 1, as long as they present valid proof of vaccination and comply with immigration and visa requirements.
Concerns, however, mounted when other countries and areas overseas reported surging COVID-19 cases.
China recently reported over 8,000 new infections nationwide, with over 5,000 in them in Shanghai, which has been shut down due to the outbreak, The Associated Press reported.
In addition, South Korea also reported an average of about 350,000 new cases in the past week due to an Omicron-driven surge, The Associated Press also reported.
Meanwhile, Business Insider reported that the United States and Europe also saw an uptick in cases over the month due to the Omicron subvariant, dubbed as the BA.2.
The Bureau of Immigration recently said it is expecting a major increase in arrivals from overseas by the second quarter of the year, thanks to the opening of borders to all foreign nationals.
