COVID-19: Bahrain scraps domestic quarantine for passengers

Cairo: Bahrain has decided to cancel domestic quarantine for travellers arriving in the country, but said that testing to detect the coronavirus will continue for them.

The decision, taking effect as of today, was recommended by a national medical team on COVID-19 after statistics showed that over the period from July 1 to August 16, only 0.2 per cent of the arriving passengers tested positive for the virus, Bahraini newspaper Al Watan reported.

A state coordination committee has approved the recommendation, the paper added.

Passengers, including citizens, expatriates and visitors, coming to Bahrain have to undergo the PCR test for detecting the coronavirus at their own expense on arrival and 10 days later. The test costs 60 Bahraini dinars.

As a new measure, domestic quarantine will no longer be required for passengers who test negative.

However, passengers have to sign a pledge to comply with home quarantine instructions until the result of the arrival testing comes out and to undergo a similar test on the 10th day of arrival in the kingdom.

Related decisions will be regularly reviewed based on the virus-related statistics, according to the report.