The Philippines will ban travellers from 19 countries and territories until mid-January as a measure to keep out a new variant of the coronavirus, its transport ministry said.

The regulation will be in effect from midnight of Dec 29 to Jan 15 and covers Filipinos and foreigners arriving from the “flagged countries”, the transport ministry told reporters in a group text message.

The Philippines previously imposed and later extended a flight ban from Britain until mid-January as the more contagious variant of the Covid-19 virus was first detected in England, Reuters reports.

The new variant, which British scientists have called “VUI - 202012/01,” has renewed fears about the virus that has killed over 1.7 million people worldwide.