Pakistan abolishes rapid anti-gene testing for inbound passengers

Islamabad: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday eased COVID-19 related restrictions abolishing the Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) for inbound passengers on arrival at the Pakistani airports.

The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Planning Minister Asad Umar, who is also chairman of the NCOC.

The meeting discussed at length the epidemic data, national vaccination progress, inbound health protocols and the second phase of the ongoing PSL.

The meeting decided to do away the RAT. However, those deported from other countries and the unvaccinated passengers arriving from land border terminals will not be exempt from the RAT, it was decided.

The coronavirus-monitoring forum also allowed people to attend matches during the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022 to be played in Lahore.

The decisions came as Pakistan witnessed a decline in number of COVID-19 cases as well as the national positivity rate that was recorded at 7.5 per cent on Monday.

In a statement, the NCOC said it had allowed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to allow 50 per cent attendance at matches during the second leg of the PSL until February 15 and 100 per cent occupancy was allowed from February 16.

Earlier, the NCOC had allowed up to 25 per cent occupancy during the Karachi leg of the tournament.

The spectators are allowed as long as they are fully vaccinated, the NCOC said, adding unvaccinated children under 12 years of age would also be allowed.

Pakistan reported 3,338 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, down from 4,874 a day earlier. It marked the second straight day that less than 5,000 infections were confirmed. This is also the first time that Pakistan’s single-day cases have dropped below 4,000 since January 13.

The national positivity rate has remained below 10pc for a week. With the cases reported in 24 hours Pakistan’s tally of coronavirus cases stands at 1,463,111.

Meanwhile, 38 more people lost their lives to the virus during the last 24 hours pushing the country’s coronavirus death toll to 29,516 on Monday.

The NCOC chairman Asad Umar on Sunday had said that Pakistan was setting the highest daily vaccination records for three consecutive days.

During the last three days, according to the NCOC chairman, Pakistan had administered over 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Umar explained that the nationwide mobile vaccination campaign, designed by the NCOC and implemented with the help of the provinces, was producing outstanding results”.