NCOC bans travel from 6 countries, Hong Kong over Omicron fears

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has banned travel from six southern African countries as well as Hong Kong over fear of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa.

In a notification issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), there will be a complete ban on direct and indirect inbound travel from South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, as well as Hong Kong over fear of the new Omicron variant of the COVID-19.

These countries have been placed in the Category C with immediate effect, however, those Pakistani travelers from these countries on “extreme emergency” will be allowed to enter after obtaining exemptions and following the health / testing protocols.

The passengers must ensure the following protocols:

1. Vaccination Certificate.
2. Negative PCR report (max 72 hours old) before boarding.
3. RAT on arrival at airport
4. RAT negative cases will undergo 3 days mandatory home quarantine and re-RAT will be conducted on 3rd day by civil administration.
5. RAT positive cases will undergo 10 days mandatory quarantine (government / self-paid) and PCR test will be conducted on 10th day in quartantine.

However, the NCOC has allowed travel from these six countries until 5 December 2021 but above mentioned protocols will remain applicable.

The NCOC has directed the Aviation Division / Airport Management / Airport Security Force (ASF) to devise a mechanism for screening passengers traveling from the above six countries, and Hong Kong through indirect flights and share it with concerned authorities by 29 November 2021.

Furthermore, the NCOC has urged people to follow the SOPs issued by the Government and ensure they get fully vaccinated due to the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant called Omicron.

Read more: Omicron COVID-19 variant highly transmissible, says WHO.

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