The government’s latest move to fight COVID-19 is to suspend all flights to and from the country for a week starting May 3 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila and all other international airports in the country. This is according to the Office of the National Task Force Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
This decision, said Galvez, is meant to “decongest quarantine facilities [and] to protect our people by preventing the further spread of COVID-19 and also ensure that our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are well taken cared of when they arrive from abroad.”
This is in addition to the suspension of domestic flights, which remain in effect. There are, however, exceptions outlined in the statement by the National Task Force against COVID-19. These includes:
- Emergencies while en route;
- Cargo flights;
- Air ambulance and medical supplies flights;
- Weather mitigation flights;
- Maintenance flights; and
- Sweeper flights for foreign nationals repatriating back to their respective countries
Additionally, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said that international flights wishing to land and depart must request exemption with the CAAP Operations Center at least 36 hours before the scheduled departure from their place of origin.
As of writing, there are almost 9,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country with over 1,000 recoveries and 600+ deaths.
Header photo courtesy of Grig C. Montegrande from Inquirer.net
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