Friday 14 / March / 2025
Muscat: Pakistani nationals, traveling from Oman back home, will not have to spend 14 days in quarantine and can be released as soon as their test results are in, the Government of Pakistan has decided. The initiative is part of the Government's efforts, based on directives by Prime Minister Imran Khan, to facilitate the return of as many citizens as possible.
Sayed Z Bukhari, Special Assistant to the PM for Overseas Pakistanis and HRD, announced the new policy implemented for all citizens flying into Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic. The waiting time before testing has also been cut down from 72 hours to 48 hours and further efforts are on to reduce this to 24 hours.
“The wait period in quarantine reduced to time for the test results to come in. Tests will be taken at the facility. This is a considerable reduction from 72 hours previously. Best efforts will be made to limit this to within 24 hours," he said.
Earlier, the government had announced that all in-bound passengers would be tested within 48-hours and would have to spend 14 days in quarantine. Moeed W. Yusuf, Special Assistant to the PM on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning also confirmed the reduction of the testing period.
“Following the PM’s directive on bringing our citizens back home, we have worked in collaboration with the provinces and our health experts. We will no longer wait 48 hours before testing passengers; will test and obtain results as soon as possible,” Yusuf said.
He added that despite the reduction, the process may still take two days or so.
“But with this reduced time in quarantine, we will manage 11,000+ international passengers per week compared to the 7,000 we were bringing before,” Yusuf pointed out.
“Our direction from the PM remains clear: Facilitate overseas Pakistanis and bring them back safely and as soon as possible. Also, we have put up a new FAQ on http://covid.gov.pk/faq-airtravel that’ll be useful for those willing to return,” he added.
