Stock Oman Muscat skyline people
Muscat city. Image Credit: Shutterstock

Dubai: The Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) in Oman has reintroduced face masks following a spike in Covid cases, local media reported.

The hospital issued an internal circular stipulating that all hospital staff and visitors must wear face masks starting Monday, January 2, 2023.

The decision comes after the hospital administration noticed an increase Covid-19 cases in the last few days.

Earlier last June, Oman lifted all COVID-19 restrictions after over two years of imposing restrictions, enabling travelers to enter the country without a PCR test. The country has also scrapped its track and trace programme as national carrier Oman Air prepares to welcome visitors.

This comes in the wake of COVID-19 cases rapidly increasing in China, promoting many countries around the world to ban flights with the country including Morocco in a bid to stave off a possible new wave of coronavirus infections.

A Moroccan foreign affairs ministry statement said the restrictions would be extended to all people arriving from China regardless of their nationality.

The ban will come into force “from 3 January and until further notice”, the statement added.

China ended its strict Covid restrictions in December, leading to a spike in cases. With some of the best vaccination rates in the world, Beijing says most of the cases after the reopening have been mild.

France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, like the United States and South Korea, have also announced they would impose a Covid test on travellers coming from China.