(Reuters)The Philippines has temporarily suspended a decision to allow fully vaccinated tourists entry in a bid to prevent a new, heavily mutated coronavirus variant taking off in the country where most of the population remains unvaccinated. Manila announced plans last week to allow fully vaccinated tourists from most countries to enter from December 1 as it seeks to revive the nation's battered economy. "The IATF deemed it necessary to suspend the entry of foreign tourists, given worldwide concerns over the Omicron variant," Bureau of Immigration commissioner Jaime Morente said Monday, using the acronym for the task force. Around one-third of the country's 110 million people are fully vaccinated. The Philippines has recorded more than 2.8 million infections since the start of the pandemic, including over 48,000 deaths.

Source: The Standard November 29, 2021 07:06 UTC