Pakistan has decided to restrict inbound travel from nine more countries due to the threat of a new coronavirus variant, Omicron, Aaj News reported on Monday.

During its daily meeting on coronavirus, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) decided to place the Netherlands, Slovenia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Poland, Ireland, Hungary, and Croatia in category C.

The forum took the decision after reviewing the global Covid-19 situation. Last month, the NCOC had already banned inbound travel from South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, and Hong Kong.

The passengers from the countries placed in category C will only be allowed in Pakistan on extreme emergency after undergoing a number of testing protocols including presenting vaccination certificates, negative PCR reports before boarding and rapid antigen tests (RAT) on arrival at the airport.

They will be required to undergo a mandatory three-day quarantine followed by a PCR test. If an individual has tested Covid-19 positive, he will undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine.

However, in order to facilitate stranded Pakistanis, the NCOC has allowed some travel relaxations. All Pakistanis can travel from Category C countries without exemption till December 15. However, the health and testing protocols will apply to them.

Meanwhile, the country reported 336 positive cases and 10 more deaths during the last 24 hours. The country conducted 42,944 tests, while the positivity ratio was recorded at 0.78%.

Moreover, 862 patients are in critical care while 858 coronavirus recoveries were also reported during the last 24 hours.

This article was originally published in Business Recorder on December 06 2021.