Covid-19 Update

Published on 9/16/2021 - Issue Q3/2021

The Philippines remains one of the most severely Covid-19 affected countries in Asia. To counter the spreading coronavirus, the Philippine government, through its Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), continuously announces the applicable quarantine restrictions, allocated by region.

On 6 August 2021 the National Capital Region and many other cities and provinces reverted back to the 3^rd Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) since March 2020. ECQ represents the highest level of Covid-19 restrictions. Under ECQ, only essential businesses are allowed to operate, and individuals are ordered to stay at home. Travels between cities and provinces are restricted, and individuals are allowed to leave their residences for work in an essential business, groceries and medical supplies only.

Despite increased case numbers, the restrictions were slightly relaxed on 21 August to a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) in the National Capital Region and other parts of the Philippines, allowing more companies to open their offices again, or for those that were allowed to operate under ECQ, to increase the their work force to 50 or 100 percent.

Despite these rigid quarantine regulations, the Philippines recorded the highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases on 30 August 2021, with 22,366 new cases. Furthermore, the Department of Health recently announced that the delta variant has become the dominant Covid-19 variant in the country.

Re-Evaluation of the Quarantine Status

By 7 September 2021 at the latest, IATF will re-evaluate and give an update on the regional community quarantine evaluation, particularly whether the current status with also restaurants, malls and other public facilities being primarily closed, and with a relatively early curfew applying, will persist, or whether some of the cities and provinces will return to a Modified General Community Quarantine or General Community Quarantine with more relaxed regulations which would be equally important for the people and the economy of the Philippines.

Travel Restrictions

Travel restrictions for foreigners remain unchanged. Foreigners are in principle still not allowed to enter the country, unless they travel with a family member (spouses, children, parents) of Filipino nationals, belong to an air or ship crew, or belong to the group of persons with privileged residence status such as diplomats and members of international organizations, as well as foreigners who have long-term visas. Nevertheless, in specific cases a "Travel Ban Exemption" can be applied for via the relevant Ministries and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, all of those who are entering the country, except for diplomats and members of international organizations, must undergo a 14-day quarantine (generally, the first 10 days at an accredited quarantine hotel;  thereafter, based on a negative PCR-test result, in home quarantine/self-isolation).

The number of incoming flight passengers is still limited. Nevertheless, the national airline "Philippine Airlines" increased its international and domestic flight operations again as of July 2021.

Economic Outlook

Despite one of the world´s longest "lockdowns" and a negative GDP growth of -9.6 percent in 2020, the economic managers of the Philippine government expect a growth between 6 to 7 percent in 2021. A promising 11,8 percent growth in Q2/2021 (from -4,2 percent in Q1/2021) may lead the way. However, the two digit year-on-year growth needs to be interpreted in the light of last year's massive decline in GDP of -16,9 percent in the same period. Numerous private financial institutions and organizations do expect an annual growth for 2021 in the area of 4 – 6 percent, and a potential recovery of the Philippine economy in 2022. For the latter it needs to be taken into account, that 2022 will be an election year.