ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) reviewed the global COVID-19 situation amid Omicron threat and decided to ban all inbound travel from Category C countries, said a statement on Monday.
According to a statement, the coronavirus monitoring body revised and expanded Category C — a list of countries from which travel is banned, except under certain conditions.
Countries in Cat C are as follows: Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovenia, Vietnam, Poland, South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The NCOC said ‘essential’ travel from the above-mentioned countries would require an exemption certificate from the government’s exemption committee with health protocols in place.
It detailed the health protocols that need to be observed in case of essential travel, which require passengers to be fully vaccinated while all passengers, local or foreigners above the age of six years, must possess a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test report issued not more than 48 hours prior to boarding, and get the rapid antigen testing (RAT) conducted on arrival in Pakistan.
However, RAT negative cases from South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia will have to undergo a mandatory three-day quarantine followed by a PCR test. Any individuals with a positive RAT result will undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine and if the PCR test on the 8th day is positive, will be quarantined further or shifted to a health facility as per the advice of doctors.
For countries in Category B, which include Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Russia, the USA, the UK, Thailand, France, Austria, Afghanistan and Turkey, all inbound passengers need to be fully vaccinated.
Furthermore, passengers from Cat B countries need to have a negative PCR test report (maximum 48 hours prior to departure). The NCOC stated that health authorities will also conduct random RAT testing of passengers coming from Cat B countries.
For Category A countries, all inbound passengers need to be fully vaccinated with the same PCR requirement as Cat B and C countries.
Authorities will also screen transit flights, with all passengers going through RAT at airports on flights arriving via KSA, UAE and Qatar to “guard against entry of Omicron variant through indirect flights”.
The NCOC stated that to facilitate stranded Pakistanis, travel from Cat C countries without exemption is allowed till December 15, with the above-mentioned health protocols in place.”Pakistanis already travelled/travelling to Category C countries on short term visa and deportees are permitted to travel back without exemption process,” added the NCOC statement.
The exempted categories are expired visas or illegal immigrants/deportees, pending court cases, medical conditions, pregnant women and those partially vaccinated from Pakistan.
