China, 45 others placed on ‘green’ list

MANILA – The Philippines has included China and 45 other countries and jurisdictions in its updated “green” list, Malacañang said on Friday.

The list of “red, yellow, and green” states and territories has been revised during the meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on Thursday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.

“The IATF approved and released its updated Red, Green, and Yellow List effective November 1 until November 15, 2021,” Roque, who concurrently serves as IATF-EID spokesperson, said in a press statement.

Apart from China, other countries and jurisdictions on the green list are Algeria, American Samoa, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Cook Islands, Eritrea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Kiribati, Madagascar, Mali, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Montserrat.

Also placed on green list are Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of Netherlands), Saint Helena, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustatius, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tokelau, and Tonga.

Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, and Yemen are also included in the green list.

Roque said Latvia is the only country put on the red list.

“All other countries/jurisdictions/territories not mentioned shall be under the yellow list,” he said.

Roque said the IATF-EID has also agreed to further ease the travel curbs by expanding to the yellow list the limited international transit hub operations.

Initially, the government only allowed transit flights just for green countries and jurisdictions.

“However, the operations shall be limited to airside transfers between Terminals 1 and 2, and within Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport,” Roque said.

He said the IATF-EID also approved the creation of a sub-Technical Working Group (sub-TWF) that would be led by the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

The sub-TWG, he said, would formulate and propose recommendations for special pilot testing and quarantine protocols for Filipinos, former Filipino citizens, and their families coming from green and yellow lists.