MANILA — The Philippines has extended until the end of the month a ban on travelers from 32 countries earlier included in the restriction to halt the spread of a new, more contagious COVID-19 variant, Malacañang said on Friday.

The curbs were supposed to end on Jan. 15. The inter-agency task force leading the country's pandemic response "approved the recommendation to extend until January 31, 2021 the entry travel restrictions and the rules applicable to all travelers coming from or transiting through the following countries/jurisdictions," said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

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The extension covers the following countries:

• Australia
• Austria
• Brazil
• Canada
• China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region)
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Iceland
• India
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Lebanon
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Portugal
• Singapore
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States

Filipinos from these areas may still enter the Philippines, said Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Rachel Queenie Dizon-Rodulfo.

The extension of the travel curbs follows the confirmation of the first case of the new variant in the country in a Filipino who had returned from Dubai.

Roque earlier said the United Arab Emirates would likely be included in the travel ban but there was still no such announcement on Friday.

"[The] President will be the one to declare that, if ever. [The] list is for extension of restrictions and not for new [areas]," Roque said in a statement.

Contract-tracing efforts will be expanded "to third-generation contacts for known new variant cases," Roque said.

"All identified close contacts are required to undergo a strict facility-based 14-day quarantine while remaining contacts from the flight manifest shall be advised of the appropriate quarantine protocols," he said in a statement.

"Those who are found to be positive, apart from the prescribed testing and quarantine protocols, shall undergo whole genome sequencing," the official added.

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