The new U.S. travel precautions have been prompted in part by concerns over the lack of genomic sequencing data that could help identify the emergence of a new variant.
Philippine Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said he’s in favor of imposing COVID measures including testing on inbound travelers from China, amid a rapid rise in infections in the mainland.
The government's quick roll-back of pandemic-related restrictions has confused experts and triggered concerns that a still relatively low rate of vaccination among the elderly will lead to high numbers of deaths.