Ayon kay Roque, Sa halip na hanggang December 31, 2020, tatagal pa ang travel ban ng susunod na dalawang linggo.
Ipinatupad ang travel ban dahil sa bagong uri ng virus ng COVID-19 na naitala sa U.K. na 70 percent na mabilis na makahawa.
Ayon kay Roque, inaprubahan din ni Pangulong Duterte ang rekomendasyon ng Department of Health (DOH) na magpatupad ng mas istriktong mandatory 14-day quarantine para sa mga biyahero na galing sa mga bansang may reported na COVID-19 new variant gaya ng Hong Kong, Singapore, at Australi kahit pa may RT-PCR test results.
“Travel restrictions in countries that have recorded cases of the COVID-19 new variant when transmission of the new variant in these countries have been confirmed at the community level; and all positive RT-PCR specimens of UK travellers must be forwarded to the Philippine Genome Center, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, and the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health, for genome sequencing,” pahayag ni Roque.
Inaprubahan din ng Pangulo ang rekomendasyon ni Dr. Jaime Montoya, Executive Director ng Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, na paigtingin pa ang genomics surveillance bilang bahagi ng biosurveillance.
Kasama na rito ang target sequencing sa high-risk groups, gaya ng clusters with increased cases at clusters with increased severity and deaths.
Inaprubahan din ng Pangulo ang rekomendasyon ni Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra na madaliin ang pagbuo ng Implementing Rules and Regulations para sa Executive Order No. 122, na magpapaigting sa border control sa pamamagitan ng Advanced Passenger Information System.