BEIJING — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the Philippines is on a "wait and watch" mode before it considers imposing stricter travel requirements for travelers from China, where a surge of COVID-19 cases have been recorded for several weeks.

“The problem is the management of COVID here in China sa ngayon,” Marcos told reporters when asked if the Philippines should hold off entry of travelers from China for allegedly underreporting its daily COVID-19 cases.

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“Hindi naman immediate na makakapagbiyahe na ang mga Chinese national kaya siguro in the meantime we just watch and wait,” the President said.

“I’m sure na hindi naman sila magpapaalis ng tao na positive,” he said.

Marcos noted that several diplomats and staff of Philippine embassy and consulates in China contracted COVID-19 before days before he flew to Beijing for a state visit.

“Pinakamalaking problema sa foreign service dahil marami sa mga embassy at consulate natin ay talagang tinamaan,” Marcos told reporters when asked how the spike in COVID-19 cases in China affected Filipinos staying in the country where the virus was first detected in 2019.

“Even our diplomats, some of them have tested positive, they continue to work from home,” he said.

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At least 22 personnel of the Philippine Embassy in China tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago but have already recuperated, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said.

No member of the Philippine delegation who traveled with Marcos to and from Beijing has tested positive for the virus, the Office of the Press Secretary said.

Should the Philippines impose stricter travel requirements for travelers from China, “it will have to be based on science,” Marcos said.

“If a Chinese national has already tested three times negative… hindi na sila kailangan itest, but if hindi pa sila tested we will ask for them to be tested before they get into the plane,” he said.

“Nothing new. Ganoon na din ang ginagawa natin ngayon hindi lang for China but for other countries we feel na higher ang risk factor than the Philippines,” he said.

As of January 6, 37,000 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in China, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO had alleged that China has been censoring data on its COVID-19 infections after it lifted its zero COVID policy in December 2022.

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In the last 2 week of December, China’s Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 20 COVID deaths as the Chinese government’s COVID-19 deaths only covers patients who died due to respiratory failure.

Last year, several international media agencies reported that a leaked document from China’s National Health Commission showed that some 37 million people in China have tested positive for COVID-19 recently.