Cairo: Bahrain Wednesday said it will introduce one more coronavirus-detecting test for arrivals in the country and cut testing fees as part of efforts to limit the spread of the disease.
The country’s national taskforce team in charge of tackling COVID-19 said that all arrivals -- citizens and foreigners -- will continue to undergo PCR testing upon arrival at Bahrain’s entry points.
In a new measure, all passengers will undergo a second test five days after arrival. A third test is conducted 10 days after arrival.
The team announced reducing the total fees of the three tests to be BD36. The new measure will take effect as of Monday, February 22, the team said
Any passenger whose testing shows a positive result will be contacted by the Health Ministry based on related personal data registered upon arrival in the kingdom.
Last December, Bahrain cut the fees of the two tests, conducted for the passenger on arrival and 10 days later, to BD40 instead of 60.
On December 17, the kingdom launched mass vaccinations against COVID-19. Over 250,000 people or 14.7 per cent of Bahrain’s total population of 1.7 million have since received the first dose of the vaccine, Akhbar Al Khaleej newspaper reported.
Bahraini authorities so far have reported a total of 114,361 coronavirus cases and 410 related deaths.
