Dubai: All Pakistani passengers will be tested for COVID-19 soon after landing in the country, says a senior government official.
“All passengers who are arriving in the country on special repatriation flights will now be tested soon after landing either at the government quarantine facilities or at hotels,” announced Moeed Yusuf, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Division and Strategic Planning. He said the decision has been taken to help expedite the repatriation process by releasing the passengers from the quarantine facilities, which have limited capacity.
Passengers' complaint
The move comes after a number of passengers after landed in Pakistan complained that they have been languishing in quarantine centres for weeks either waiting to be tested for COVID-19 or waiting for the test results. “I have been confined to a room for the last 11 days since I came back from Dubai on a special flight,” said Munib Ahmed. He said that although the government promised to conduct COVID-19 test within 48-hour of arrival in Pakistan, it took them six days to conduct his test and now he has been waiting for my test results for the last five days. “I cannot go home unless I got me test report,” he added.
Similarly, a large number of passengers who travelled from UAE and from other countries have taken to social media to complain about the poor quarantine facilities and especially the long-waiting time for COVID-19 tests.
Earlier, the government had announced that a passenger would be tested within 48-hours and would have to spend 14 days in the quarantine.
“Now, passengers will immediately undergo a test unlike our previous policy of waiting for 48 hours,” Yusuf told reporters on Monday. Now, those who are tested negative will be allowed to go home after 24-hour to stay in isolation for 14 days.
Zulfiqar Bukhari, Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, has also confirmed the reduced quarantine time for passengers. “The government has reduced the quarantine period for incoming passengers, who will be allowed to leave the facility if they test negative,” he tweeted on Monday.
Yusuf made it clear that if a passenger’s test comes back positive, he or she may also be allowed to self-isolate at home depending on the intensity of the case.
He said that more than 20,000 people had returned while more than 100,000 still wanted to come back.
100,000 more to be repatriated
“Till now 20,000 Pakistanis have been brought back home. Next week, we will try to bring back around 10,000 Pakistanis from 22 countries, mostly from the Gulf States and mainly from the UAE,” he said. Pakistan has already announced 31 special flights from May 11 to 21 to repatriate stranded Pakistanis. This include nine special flights to fly Pakistanis from UAE.
COVID-19 tests before boarding
He said that the Pakistan government has also requested the authorities in the Gulf countries to test passengers for COVID-19 before they board the flights. However, he said the passengers would be tested again upon arrival in Pakistan.
“Even after testing positive, a passenger could be allowed to self-isolate at his home if his health condition does not deteriorate,” he added. However, no passenger would be allowed to travel from one province to another in case of testing positive for the virus.
More than 69,000 stranded Pakistanis have registered with the Pakistani diplomatic missions in UAE for repatriation. This included around 63,000 people who had registered with the Pakistan Consulate General in Dubai. More than 7,000 people have been repatriated on special flights from April 18 to May 10. Nine more flights are scheduled to operate to fly more than 3000 passengers back home from May 11 to May 21.
