Home ›› 14 Sep 2021 ›› World Biz
Saudi Arabia is to reduce mandatory quarantine for travellers to the kingdom to five days.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation announced it was cutting the period by two days in an official circular on Monday to all airports in the kingdom, reports The National.
It asked authorities to update the arrival procedures for residents and travellers from countries on the green list accordingly.
The rules apply to those with one and two doses of the vaccines approved for use in the kingdom. All arrivals must provide evidence of a negative PCR test for Covid-19 taken within the 72 hours before travel.
A coronavirus test will also be conducted within 24 hours of their arrival and another test must be taken after five days. The quarantine period will automatically end based on a negative result and will be updated on the 'Tawakkalna' Covid-19 app.
Coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia have declined significantly in the past few months as the country has imposed heavy fines and even prison terms for those who do not adhere to health and safety procedures. The kingdom reported 75 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths on Monday, a drop from 4,919 daily cases at the peak of the crisis in June 2020.
The kingdom has now registered 546,067 cases in total and 8,628 deaths.
Last week, Saudi Arabia removed the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and South Africa from its entry banned country list and re-allowed citizens to travel to the three countries.
The Ministry of Interior said the decision was based on the kingdom's evaluation of the current Covid-19 situation.
Saudi Arabia has donated 20 million riyals ($5.3 million) to purchase coronavirus vaccines for less developed member countries in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, state media reported. King Salman Relief Centre announced on Monday that the kingdom has so far contributed to more than 40 projects around the world to combat coronavirus, at a cost of about $800 million.
