ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday announced a ban on entry from six African countries and Hong Kong “due to threat” from the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.
The African countries include South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini.
A statement by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said that a ban on direct or indirect inbound travel from the aforementioned countries has been imposed, with the countries placed in Category C “with immediate effect”.
NCOC said Pakistani passengers travelling from these countries on “extreme emergency” will only be allowed after obtaining exemptions and ensuring the following protocols:
- Vaccination certificate;
- Max 72-hour-old negative PCR report before boarding;
- Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on arrival at the airport;
- RAT negative cases will undergo 3 days mandatory home quarantine and re-RAT will be conducted on third day;
- RAT positive cases will undergo 10 days mandatory quarantine at government or self-paid facilities;
- Their PCR test will be conducted on the 10th day in quarantine.
However, to facilitate stranded Pakistanis, travel from these countries will be allowed till December 5, 2021, without exemption, but the aforementioned protocols will be applicable, the NCOC said.
In the statement, the NCOC also directed Aviation Division, airport management, and the Airport Security Force to devise a mechanism for screening passengers traveling from the above-mentioned countries through indirect flights and share it with all the concerned authorities by November 29.
