ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today imposed ban on air travel by passengers from nine more countries with the aim to prevent spread of Omicron. The National Command and Operation Center said the countries being banned for air travel to Pakistan are Netherland, Slovenia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Poland, Ireland, Hungary, and Croatia.
According to the NCOC, the decision has been taken after reviewing the pandemic situation in the country. Earlier, a complete ban was imposed on inbound travel from South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, and Hong Kong.
Thus, so far, Pakistan has imposed ban on air travel from 16 above-quoted countries.
Meanwhile, after the emergence of the Omicron strain in South Africa, these countries had been placed in category C. People from category C countries can travel to Pakistan only under specific NCOC guidelines.
Travel from these territories would be allowed only “on extreme emergency” and the travelers will be required to follow health and testing protocols which include
- Vaccination certificate
- Negative PCR report
- Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on arrival
Pakistani travellers from these countries, till December 5, will be allowed without restrictions but with certain conditions. The above-mentioned protocols will remain in place.
Meanwhile, on December 1, five Pakistani passengers tested positive for Covid-19 at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport after arriving from Saudi Arabia.
Authorities had moved them to a quarantine facility and sent their samples to the laboratory to determine the Covid-19 variant they were infected with. The development comes amid heightened alert in view after Saudi Arabia detected its first case of the Omicron variant.
