Cases soar, Pak bans travel from 12 nations

Islamabad, March 21

Pakistan imposed a complete ban on travel from 12 countries, including South Africa, Rwanda and Tanzania, in a bid to curb the spike of corona virus cases as the country on Sunday recorded 3,667 new cases, taking the national tally to 6,26,802.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) notified a fresh list of countries categorised into A, B and C after emergence of South African and Brazilian strain of the virus and imposed a complete ban on travel from 12 countries, categorised as C. The travel restrictions and a ban on inbound passengers from 12 countries will remain effective from March 23 to April 5. Botswana, Brazil, Columbia, Comoros, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Peru, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia have been placed in category C.

The CAA in its notification said there would be a complete travel ban on inbound travel to Pakistan from category C countries, including withdrawal of exemptions earlier provided to certain categories of travellers like Pakistani passport holders.

The temporary measure is being introduced in continuation to the steps being taken to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Pakistan, it said. The CAA also updated its category C, for inbound travellers and shifted the United Kingdom from category C to category B.

The CAA said the international travellers from category A countries do not require Covid-19 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test before entry into Pakistan. Australia, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mongolia, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago and Vietnam have been placed in category A.

The international travellers from countries not specified in category A require Covid-19 test before commencement of travel to Pakistan. The notification said all countries which are not specified in A and C fall in category B. The ministry of National Health Services said 8.74 positivity rate was recorded in the last 24 hours. — PTI

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