Saudi Arabia to lift COVID-19 travel restrictions after 1st January 2021
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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will partially lift its suspension of international flights from September 15 for a limited number of people with exceptional circumstances.
The interior ministry said all international travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 will be lifted after January 1. People will be allowed to leave and return to the Kingdom via land, sea and air borders.
Exceptional categories include public and military sector employees, diplomats and their families, those working for public or non-profit private sector jobs abroad, businessmen, patients who need treatment abroad, those studying abroad as well as people with humanitarian cases, and sports teams.
GCC citizens and non-Saudi residents with valid residency, or visitors' visas will be allowed to enter the kingdom as of September 15 conditional on proving they are COVID-19 negative.
The specific date for the lifting of restrictions will be given 30 days before the end of the year and the health ministry may stipulate preventative measures on travelers and transport providers during travel and at airports, ports and stations.
A plan will be announced to allow the performance of Umrah gradually according to developments.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
