Saudi Arabia among 38 nations exempted from mandatory coronavirus tests for travelers to Pakistan

FILE: Airport Security Force personnel stand guard at the international arrivals area of Islamabad International Airport, April 18, 2018. (Reuters /File photo)

• Starting October 5, all international travelers will be required to present a mandatory negative COVID-19 test conducted within 96 hours of travel date
• Visitors also have to provide traveler information through a designated mobile app or web-based form

ISLAMABAD: Starting October 5, all international travelers to Pakistan will be required to present a mandatory negative COVID-19 test conducted within 96 hours of the travel date, the ministry of health has said, exempting 38 countries, including Saudi Arabia, from the obligatory test.
In a notification on its website, the ministry issued new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for international travelers entering Pakistan in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Besides the mandatory COVID-19 RT-PCR test, the new measures also require that visitors provide traveler contact information through a designated ‘The PassTrack’ mobile app or an accessible web-based form.
“The app helps you to: provide mandatory information that’s required for entry into Pakistan, reduce your wait time and points of contact at the airport, provide the government of Pakistan with voluntary updates and the development of any symptoms during the 14 days after arriving in Pakistan,” the ministry’s website said.
Thirty eight countries have been exempted from mandatory testing, including China, Turkey, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Canada, among others.
“This list will be updated on a fortnightly basis by Ministry National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination based on disease burden of COVID-19,” the ministry said. “This list will be next reviewed on 8th October.”