From Friday onwards, the Philippines will ban all travellers from Indonesia until July 31 to prevent the spread of the highly infectious Delta Covid-19 variant, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

“President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the travel restrictions for all travellers coming from Indonesia or those with travel history to Indonesia within the last 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines,” Xinhua news agency quoted Roque as saying in a statement.

“This action is undertaken to prevent the further spread and community transmission of Covid-19 variants in the Philippines,” Roque added.

The inclusion of Indonesia brings to eight the list of countries banned by the Philippines.

Travellers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates are also not allowed to enter the country until July 31.

The Philippines has detected the Delta variant in the samples taken from 19 returning Filipinos.

No community transmission has been documented so far. The Philippines now has 1,485,457 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 26,232 deaths.