MANILA (UPDATE) — The Philippines will ban travelers from 8 countries and territories in a bid to keep out the heavily mutated omicron COVID-19 variant, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

Effective Dec. 16 to 31, travelers from the following "high-risk" areas that are part of the so-called "Red List" will be banned from entering the Philippines, said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

• Andorra
• France
• Monaco
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Reunion
• San Marino
• South Africa
• Switzerland

The restriction covers everyone who has been to these 8 areas in the last 14 days regardless of their vaccination status, Nograles said in a press briefing.

Only Filipinos returning through repatriation efforts and "Bayanihan" flights are exempted from the travel ban, said Nograles, who serves as Malacañang's acting spokesman.

"To all those who plan to come home during the holidays, we humbly request your patience as we in the IATF continue to make modifications to our protocols. These are all being done in response to evolving situations in the world," said the official.

"We want to keep our people safe, and we will do what is necessary to achieve that," he added.

Nograles said vaccinated Filipinos from Red List areas must show a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to their departure. They must undergo facility quarantine, from which they could be discharged after getting the negative result of an RT-PCR test taken on the seventh day.

But he said they must stay on home quarantine until the 14th day.

For unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or Filipinos whose inoculation status cannot be validated, they must also show a pre-departure negative RT-PCR test, said Nograles.

They must complete a 10-day facility quarantine, regardless of when they get the result of a second RT-PCR test taken on the seventh day. They will then undergo home quarantine until the 14th day, he said.

The Philippines later Wednesday detected its first 2 imported cases of the omicron coronavirus variant of concern.

The 2 Omicron variant cases, detected from 48 samples sequenced on Dec. 14, are currently isolated in a quarantine facility, said the health department.