Planning a holiday? Your PCR test-free options are here

Oman Wednesday 02/March/2022 23:45 PM

By: Times News Service

Planning a holiday? Your PCR test-free options are here

After nearly two years, the world seems to be opening up to swab-free getaways for vaccinated travellers.

Muscat: As Oman joins the list of countries that have scrapped pre-travel PCR tests for fully vaccinated passengers, people can now travel overseas far easier than they did during the earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Entry into Oman will be allowed for the fully vaccinated without the need for a PCR examination report from 1 March, 2022,” said the Supreme Committee, as reported by Oman News Agency.

While countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have done away with pre-travel tests, other nations such as the Philippines and Bangladesh require passengers to take PCR tests before they travel. Other destinations such as the Maldives, Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, the US and Canada also require incoming passengers to take PCR tests well before boarding their plane.

Kuwait was among the first countries in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to scrap PCR requirements for incoming passengers, provided they have received a full vaccine course, besides a booster. Kuwait’s cabinet “scrapped pre-departure, post-arrival PCR tests and home quarantine requirements for arrivals who have received three shots of Kuwait-authorised vaccines,” said Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

“Double-jabbed arrivals will be expected from pre-departure PCR tests only, as they still need to quarantine for seven days after entering the country, but they can end quarantine at any time if they present a negative PCR test.”

Bahrain was among those countries that followed suit. From Friday, 4 February, arrivals no longer need to take PCR test before boarding their plane. From Sunday, 20 February onwards, “All passengers arriving in the Kingdom of Bahrain do not need a PCR test upon arrival,” reported Bahrain News Agency. Precautionary quarantine has also been done away with.

The United Arab Emirates has also done away with COVID tests for fully vaccinated passengers. “You no longer need a test to fly to Abu Dhabi if you’re vaccinated or you’re under 16, or you hold a COVID-19 recovery certificate,” said Etihad Airways, the flag carrier of the UAE.

A host of European countries, including Denmark, the UK, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, and France have scrapped requirements for travellers to take pre-departure PCR tests. Instead, people coming to these countries need to show proof of full vaccination.

“In case of failure to submit a vaccination certificate or documents indicating that the passenger had COVID-19 disease, it shall be deemed adequate to submit a PCR test with a negative result taken within maximum 72 hours before entry or the negative rapid antigen test result taken within maximum 48 hours before entry,” said guidelines issued by Turkish Airlines regarding entry into the country. Most countries, however, do require some form of pre-registration from passengers before they fly. Passengers also need to show proof of vaccination on departure and arrival.

France has among the most stringent requirements, having classified countries into ‘green’ and ‘orange’ categories. ‘Green’ countries are those with negligible or moderate presence of COIVD-19. Passengers flying from ‘orange’ countries need to sign “a sworn statement attesting to the absence of symptoms of COVID-19 infection and contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 to enter the metropolitan territory,” according to France’s Ministry of the Interior.

Cyprus has also classified countries into three categories: Green, red, and grey, with the last category featuring countries on which there is not enough information at present to classify them in the other two. Fully vaccinated passengers from all three categories need to apply for a Cyprus Flight Pass before departing for the island and must show full proof of vaccination.

“Travellers who can prove that they have received all necessary doses of an authorised vaccine or they have recently recovered from COVID-19, will not be required to undergo any tests to visit Cyprus, irrespective of colour categorisation of their country of departure,” said Visit Cyprus, the country’s tourism portal.

Travelcheck questionnaire
Passengers planning a trip to Switzerland are recommended to check whether they are eligible to travel by using the Travelcheck questionnaire from the Federal Office of Public Health that can be accessed at www.travelcheck.admin.ch/check.
People flying to the UK are also free from PCR requirements. “If you’re fully vaccinated, you no longer need to take a COVID-19 test either before or after you arrive in the UK,” said instructions from the UK government. “You still need to complete a passenger locator form.”

Denmark has also scrapped PCR testing for all vaccinated arrivals. Rules for passengers who are not, however, depend on where you are travelling from. Apart from the EU/ Schengen countries and 16 other territories, all others, including Oman, are considered ‘high-risk’.

“You can enter Denmark from COVID-19 high-risk countries without test or isolation if you are vaccinated or previously infected,” said Coronasmitte.dk, the joint website of the Danish authorities.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian government also said it was “removing all regulatory measures against COVID-19, including the requirement to wear a face covering, one-metre distance and the duty to go into isolation when people are sick.”
Immigration queues at Indian airports have become quite long since the Indian government decided to remove PCR testing requirements for passengers pre-departure.

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said, “All travellers should submit a complete and factual information in a self-declaration form on the online Air Suvidha portal before their scheduled travel, including travel details for the last 14 days,” along with either a negative PCR report conducted at least 72 hours prior to departure or a certificate showing a complete primary vaccination schedule.

Similarly, Sri Lankan Airlines also updated its entry requirements for passengers travelling to and from Sri Lanka.
“COVID-19 PCR Tests or Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) are no longer required for fully vaccinated travellers or for children below the age of 12 years prior to their departure in Sri Lanka,” said the airline. “A traveller or crew member who has taken the ‘recommended doses’ of a COVID-19 vaccination and has completed 14 days after vaccination is considered fully vaccinated.”