Pakistan bans travel from six countries till February 28
Pakistan has extended the travel restrictions on several countries, including the UK, till February 28 to hold the spread of the coronavirus, authorities said.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued a travel advisory for incoming passengers, according to a notification issued on Friday.
The CAA has divided the countries into three categories (A, B, and C) with different instructions for COVID-19.
Category A has 24 countries; Australia, China, Iraq, New Zealand, Qatar, Iceland, Sri Lanka, and Saudi Arabia, while Category C has six countries; South Africa, United Kingdom, Brazil, Ireland, Portugal, and The Netherlands.
The PCAA reduced the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test requirement for categories B and C from 96 to 72 hours.
PCAA extended travel-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) till February 28.
The authority has placed 24 countries in category-A and six in category-C. The PCAA said the international travelers from category-A do not require Covid-19 PCR test for entry into Pakistan. The travelers from Category-B will require PCR test before arriving in Pakistan (maximum 72 hours old).
However, the restrictions on travelers from C-category countries have been extended following the increasing number of cases reported there during the second wave of Covid-19. The second wave of the pandemic hit Pakistan in November.
Previous travel ban due to new strain of coronavirus
On December 21, Pakistan imposed a temporary ban for one week on in-bound passengers from the UK after the emergence of a new coronavirus strain.
Pakistan then extended the ban on flights from UK for another week because of the rapid spread of the virus.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan are 543,214. Reported deaths in the last 24-hours were 2179.
