ISLAMABAD: Pakistan announced a ban on entry from six countries due to the threat from the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.
A statement by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said that a ban on direct or indirect inbound travel from six countries – South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini – and one territory Hong Kong has been imposed, with the countries placed in Category C “with immediate effect”.
It said Pakistani passengers travelling from these countries on “extreme emergency” will only be allowed after obtaining exemptions and ensuring the following health protocols including vaccination certificate, and a maximum 72-hour-old negative PCR report before boarding,
Passengers must present 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 tenth day in quarantine.
It added that to facilitate stranded Pakistanis, travel from these countries will be allowed till December 5 without exemption but the protocols will remain applicable. Airport management has been directed to devise a mechanism for screening passengers travelling from indirect flights.
Due to threat of new Variant, following countries have also been included in Cat C and complete ban has been imposed on direct / indirect inbound travel from these countries with immediate effect: South Africa, Hong Kong,Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana pic.twitter.com/DxzqzV4sse
— NCOC (@OfficialNcoc) November 27, 2021
Omicron variant
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a new coronavirus variant to be “of concern” and named it Omicron. It had a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggested an increased reinfection risk, the WHO said.
It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November, and has also been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel. A number of countries around the world have now decided to ban or restrict travel to and from southern Africa.
The WHO said the number of cases of this variant, initially named B.1.1.529, appeared to be increasing in almost all of South Africa’s provinces.
“This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the UN public health body said in a statement. It said “the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November”.
The WHO said it would take a few weeks to understand the impact of the new variant, as scientists worked to determine how transmissible it was.
