IATF approves COVID-19 testing for inbound travelers on 7th day of quarantine

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the recommendation of the Department of Health (DOH) to move the COVID-19 testing for inbound travelers to the seventh day of quarantine.

“Na-aprubahan na sa IATF kahapon itong ating nirekomenda na magkaroon ng seventh day testing. No testing upon arrival, seventh-day po ang testing and completed 10-day quarantine here at the national level,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online press briefing.

“I-e-endorse sa local government after the 10th day and yung four days dapat siguraduhin din ng local government na matatapos ng travelers,” she added.

The DOH earlier said it will make the recommendation citing evidence that the viral load for COVID-19 patients is still high until the seventh or eighth day of infection.

Vergeire said that following the approval of the IATF, concerned agencies will then have to draft guidelines for the new protocol before it can be implemented. She also noted that all concerned agencies have agreed that the revised testing protocol for arriving travelers should be implemented “at the soonest possible time.”