Philippines suspends commercial flights to decongest quarantine facilities
04 May, 2020
The Philippines barred all passenger flights to and from the united states from Sunday (May 3) for just one week to support the spread of the coronavirus and lessen pressure on quarantine facilities housing thousands of Filipino repatriates, officials said on Sunday.
"This decision is intended to decongest our quarantine facilities to protect our people by avoiding the further spread of COVID-19 and also make sure that our overseas Filipino personnel are well looked after if they arrive from abroad", the duty force said in a statement.
Cargo, medical, utility and maintenance flights are exempted from the order.
The Philippines introduced curbs on immigration, travel, commerce and public gatherings in mid-March, days following the first case of domestic transmission. Entry to the united states is closed to all or any except repatriated Filipinos.
Around 20,000 repatriated Filipinos are undergoing mandatory quarantine in the administrative centre, the duty force said.
Philippine airlines had already extended domestic and international passenger flights suspensions to mid-May.
As of Sunday, the Philippines has reported 9,223 cases of COVID-19 and 607 deaths.
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