Coronavirus: unvaccinated people banned from public transport in Manila
Eva Deschamps / January 12, 2022
People who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 are no longer allowed to use public transportation in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, which is experiencing a surge in infections, the Department of Transportation said.
Commuters to the sprawling city of 13 million people, which is at alert level 3 on a scale of 5, must present physical or digital copies of their government-issued vaccination and ID cards, he added.
People whose health conditions prevent full vaccination are exempt, but must present a medical certificate, the department said.
Unvaccinated people who need to purchase essential goods or travel for compelling reasons are allowed to use public transportation if they have a health pass from their community leaders or other proof to justify their travel, he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte had recently ordered community leaders to keep unvaccinated people at home, except for essential travel, and to arrest them if they refused to follow the authorities' rules.
More than 53 million people, or more than 48% of the estimated 110 million people in the Philippines, have been vaccinated.
The total number of cases in the Philippines since the start of the pandemic surpassed three million on Tuesday, when more than 28,000 additional cases of Covid-19 were reported by the Department of Health. The death toll stands at 52,511.