New Covid rules announced for travellers entering Pakistan

New Covid-19 safety and precautionary rules will come into effect in Pakistan by midnight, as passengers flying from the UAE and other countries will have to take the Covid-19 test upon arrival at the South Asian nation's international airports.

As per new instructions announced by the Pakistan National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to rein in the Covid-19 pandemic, all passengers entering the nation from the UAE and other countries will have to quarantine themselves upon arrival.

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In addition to bringing a negative PCR test when entering Pakistan, which should not be less than 72 hours old, a rapid antigen test will be conducted of foreign travellers upon arrival at all the country's international airports. The test result can be obtained in 20 minutes.

Travellers, who test negative will undergo 10-day self-quarantine at home, and those who tested positive will be shifted to a self-paid facility for 10 days. The second PCR test will be conducted on the eighth day of quarantine. In case of a negative result, a passenger will be allowed to proceed home. But if the passengers test positive again, he will either undergo an additional quarantine period or be shifted to a hospital, depending on the advice of health authorities. At Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, a 48-member team of health workers has been stationed to conduct Covid-19 tests.

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These rules will come into effect from 12:01am on Wednesday.

Teams of local health departments will be deployed at the airport to monitor and conduct Covid-19 testing of the passengers.

NCOC has also reduced inbound flights by 80 per cent from May 5 to 20 in a bid to contain the number of growing Covid-19 cases in the country. The number of flights has been reduced from 590 to only 123 a week from May 5. NCOC will meet again on May 18 to review the decision of the number of weekly flights that will be allowed to operate.

Covid-19: Pakistan to reduce inbound flights by 80 per cent

The UAE airlines have also reduced frequencies in line with the Pakistani government’s directive from May 5 and cancelled numerous flights.

-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com