Cairo: Kuwait’s decision to limit the numbers of air passengers in the country is limited to arrivals only and does not include departures, an aviation official has said.
Kuwait started as of Sunday limiting the numbers of arrivals in the country for two weeks in an effort to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“This is a temporary and limited measure, the official at the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (GDCA) told Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba today.
“The number of the departing passengers remains unchanged,” the unnamed official added.
The GDCA officials are flexible in dealing with the cut in flight numbers. “The DGCA has recommended against closing the airport because there are humanitarian cases, students and families outside Kuwait,” the official said.
Domestic workers and transit passengers are excluded from reducing the number of arrivals in the country.
“Domestic workers go into institutional quarantine. Special residences are allocated to quarantine them for 14 days,” the official said.
The official also denied any change in the list of countries on which Kuwait has suspended flights as a precaution against COVID-19.
Last August, Kuwaiti authorities banned flights from dozens of countries amid concerns over their virus situation.
“The emergence of the mutated coronavirus has prompted no change in the list of those countries in order to protect the health system in Kuwait. This is a pre-emptive measure to prevent the entry of the new strain in Kuwait,’’ the official added.