Saudi Arabia lifts COVID-19 travel curbs, permitting travel to India, Turkey, others

Saudi Arabia lifts COVID-19 travel curbs, permitting travel to India, Turkey, others
June 20, 2022, 5:33 pm

A food delivery worker wears protective face mask and gloves at a restaurant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 26, 2020. (Reuters)

On Monday (20 June), the Saudi Ministry of Interior announced that the Kingdom has lifted travel restrictions imposed on its citizens due to the coronavirus. Travel restrictions have been lifted on the following destinations: Turkey, Ethiopia, Vietnam and India.

The Alarabiya English reported that the move comes a week after the Kingdom dropped some precautionary COVID-19 measures, including wearing face masks indoors and providing proof of vaccination in order to enter most public places.

Despite the relaxation of COVID-19 measures, the Ministry of Interior said last week that people will still be required to wear masks in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Prophet’s Mosque in Media, places regulated by the Saudi Public Health Authority Weqaya, and places and events that impose their own mask mandates.

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The vaccination timeframe for Saudi Arabian citizens who want to travel abroad has also been extended.

Travelers were previously required to have received their third COVID-19 booster dose within three months of the second, but that timeframe has now been extended to eight months.

Saudi Arabia drops COVID-19 measures including indoor masks and vaccine requirement

It should be noted that Coronavirus restrictions in the Kingdom were loosened earlier this year in March when outdoor mask mandates, social distancing measures, PCR tests for inbound travelers, and quarantine-on-arrival rules were dropped.

Source: alarabiyaenglish

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