Entry of Pakistanis from 26 countries allowed, foreigners banned

Following the instructions of the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), the Civil Aviation Authority has released a new Category C list.

According to the list released by Civil Aviation, the number of C-category countries has been reduced from 38 to 26, while Pakistanis from these countries have been allowed entry.

Earlier, the entry of passengers from 38 countries in Category C was completely banned. However, passengers were allowed to travel to Pakistan only with the special permission of the NCOC.

Under the new guidelines, Pakistani travellers from Category C countries will be able to travel to Pakistan without a permit, while foreigners will have to obtain permission from the NCOC to enter Pakistan.

According to the guidelines of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, all passengers will have a rapid COVID test on arrival at the airport along with following other SOPs.

"Countries in A category are exempted from the mandatory Covid-19 test, travellers from areas in B category require a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that must be taken within 72 hours of the travel date while countries in C category are restricted and people can travel only under specific NCOC guidelines," an official of the country's Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) said.

The list of 26 countries includes India, Iran, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Iraq, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Tunisia, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Namibia, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Uruguay in the C category list.

Apart from the nations in "C category", the rest have been included in the "B category" and passengers from these countries will be required to present a negative PCR test result.

This comes as Pakistan reported 1,194 new cases and 57 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

Pakistan Civil Aviation has removed Mongolia, Kenya, Venezuela, Ukraine, Slovenia, Croatia, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Poland, Cuba and Thailand from the C-category list.