OFWs stranded Manila Philippines
Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) stranded due to reduced flights await updates on travel arrangements at a temporary shelter set up in a school in Pasay City, Metro Manila, the Philippines, on Monday, June 15, 2020. The Philippines will keep its capital under loose restrictions, allowing most businesses to continue operating even as coronavirus cases rise. Image Credit: Bloomberg
Also in this package

Manila: The Duterte government has extended the ban on travelers from 10 countries up to August 15 in a move to curb the transmission of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

Harry Roque, spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), announced Friday that travel restrictions are still in place for the following countries:

  • India
  • Pakistan
  • Nepal
  • Sri Lanka
  • Bangladesh
  • Oman
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Thailand

On Thursday, the Asian country's COVID-19 positivity rate (percentage of people who tested positive) climbed to 16.2 per cent — the highest in three months — according to the Department of Health. It's the highest since April 29 when the figure was at 16.3 per cent.

The rate is classified as "high" based on the metric by US non-profit Covid Act Now, which is used by IATF as reference. An geographic area is deemed to have enough testing when its positivity rate is below 3 per cent; it has inadequate testing when the percentage is above 20 per cent.

The death toll also jumped to 27,577 — which is 1.75 per cent of the nationwide tally — after 176 more people lost their lives to the disease as of Thursday.

This story is breaking and is being updated...