Covid-19: Philippines removes UAE from green list; travellers to undergo quarantine

Filipino expats who are travelling home will have to undergo a slightly longer quarantine of five to seven days, as the Philippines removed the UAE from its green list. New PCR test requirements and Covid protocols for arriving passengers have also been laid out.

In the latest resolution that the Philippine government released on Friday, the UAE no longer appears on the green or red list, which likely means it is classified as ‘yellow’.

The new classification will come into effect on January 16 and will remain in place until January 31, according to the Philippines’ Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) Resolution 157-B.

In a separate resolution issued on the same day, the IATF lists new Covid protocols for Filipinos flying in from red, yellow, and green list countries.

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All arriving passengers now have to present a negative result from a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure, instead of the previous 72-hour test validity requirement.

Here are the Covid protocols for Filipino travellers arriving from red, yellow and green list countries:

Yellow list countries (including the UAE)

Fully vaccinated:

> Negative result from a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure

> Hotel/facility-based quarantine upon arrival

> Take a PCR test on the fifth day (with the arrival day as day one)

> Once the negative test result is received, they can be released and stay in home quarantine until their seventh day.

Unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, and those whose vaccination status cannot be validated

> Negative result from a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure

> Hotel/facility-based quarantine upon arrival

> Take a PCR test on the seventh day

> Once the negative test result is received, they can be released and stay in home quarantine until their 14th day

Countries on yellow list: All countries not on red or green lists

Red list countries

Fully vaccinated:

> Negative result from a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure

> Hotel/facility-based quarantine upon arrival

> Take a PCR test on their seventh day

> Release from quarantine facility once negative test result is received, home quarantine until day 14

> Countries on the green list: Bangladesh, British Virgin Islands, Djibouti, Gambia, Hong Kong, Japan, Montserrat, Oman, Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Benin, China, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, India, Kosovo, Morocco, Pakistan, Saint Barthelemy, Sint Eustatius, Uganda, Bhutan, Cote d’Ivoire, Falkland Islands, Guinea, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Niger, Paraguay, Senegal, Taiwan