Covid testing is about to make a return at Pakistan’s airports after 12 months of relaxation. If you’re travelling within the country, or even leaving Pakistan, you will not notice anything different. But If you’re planning on travelling to Pakistan from abroad any time soon, it might take a little longer to exit the airport.

After almost two years of strict enforcement, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) announced that passengers entering Pakistan would not be required to show a negative PCR test from February 24, 2022, if the traveller was vaccinated.

Still, non-vaccinated individuals are required to show a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) report taken in the last 72 hours. Pedestrians and deportees were subject to to a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on arrival.

However, the situation in China has resulted in a rethink. Following protests, China eased Covid-19 restriction and saw a surge in case to the point where hospitals were overwhelmed.

Hence, despite having vaccinated over 90% of the population and finally getting daily life to return to pre-Covid levels, the government of Pakistan thought it might be a good idea to keep some measure of caution in place.

What now

The Border Health Services department issued a notification on December 28, saying that it had issued instructions for stricter checks on all inbound passengers.

So, in addition to the tests on deportees and pedestrians entering Pakistan’s borders, two percent passengers on every flight entering Pakistan will be randomly selected for a RAT.

How you’re selected for a test can depend on two things

• whether you display signs and symptoms
• your luck (because the selection is random)

The notification says that screening measures are already ‘in vogue’ which is probably government-speak for loosely implemented. It was not immediately clear when the new arrangements would be fully implemented but sources in civil aviation say it should be done soon.

Will this mean congestion at the airport?

If you have across recent reports about congestion at Delhi’s airport, don’t worry about that happening. The crowds at Delhi piled up due to unprecedented numbers of travellers and a shortage of x-ray machines to scan luggage.

The authorities in Pakistan think there will be no noticeable hassle due to the new Covid measures. Their confidence stems from two reasons:

• Dedicated spots for the Border Health Services were established during Covid’s peak. They will be useful again without getting in the way of regular passenger traffic
• Only 2% of incoming passengers will be tested. The authorities think this number is high enough to give a good picture of Covid’s prevalnce and small enough to not cause congestion.

What is RAT?

The authorities are careful about not taking too much of your time. So they have chosen RAT to be the mode of testing.

Rapid Antigen Tests are not as accurate as PCR but they give you a result in 15 minutes. The test involves a swab that will have to be inserted into your nasal cavity up to two to three centimetres, and you will know if you are Covid positive or negative when the sample gets processed.