Islamabad: Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has issued fresh guidelines as of Jaunary 5 for inbound airline passengers. The authority has abolished different country categories and announced blanket guidelines amid the surge in coronavirus infections driven by the Omicron variant.
Pakistan has made a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test mandatory for all passengers above six years flying into the country. Vaccination will be mandatory for all inbound passengers over 15 years of age with a negative PCR report conducted within 48 hours of departure.
Pre-departure guidelines
Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination and proof of COVID-19 vaccination for all passengers above 15 years of age.
Valid negative PCR test result conducted within 48 hours prior to travel to Pakistan. This is applicable for all passengers above six years of age.
On-arrival guidelines
According to the guidelines issued by CAA, 100 per cent rapid antigen testing (RAT) will be mandatory for all the passengers arriving from Europe and a minimum 50 per cent for the passengers coming from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Meanwhile, selective rapid antigen testing is applicable for all inbound flights other than from Europe, UAE, KSA and Qatar.
All passengers with positive rapid antigen test upon arrival will be required to quarantine at self-paid or government facilities for 10 days and a PCR test will be conducted on the eighth day of the quarantine, according to officials.
Surge in infections fuelled by Omicron
Pakistan reported nearly 898 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day tally in two months, which has pushed the positivity ratio to 1.8 per cent on Wednesday, according to data from the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC), which is overseeing the pandemic response. “At least 141 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Islamabad of which 23 were detected as Omicron cases,” Islamabad district health officer Dr Zaeem Zia told Gulf News.
Health officials have announced to speed up vaccination and booster shot campaigns to contain the fast-spreading Omicron variant. About 72 million people in Pakistan, or 33 per cent of the population, have been fully vaccinated while 98.5 million or 44 per cent have received one dose of the vaccine.
