The government of Pakistan has announced today that all international passengers will be tested for COVID19 upon arrival at airport. This was announced by the Special Assistant to PM on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Moeed Yousuf. Earlier Prime Minister Imran Khan also said that they are easing restriction for arriving passengers by air.
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Moeed Yousuf in his tweets said that “starting from today (2nd June), passengers (arriving from abroad) will be tested on arrival and sent home for self-isolation without having to wait for test results. They’ll be added to the Track & Trace system & provincial governments will be able to follow up to ensure the health & safety of passengers & the public.”
Moeed Yousuf further wrote that “as suggested by the PM yesterday on (1st June), we have been able to further increase the number of inbound passengers per week through expediting the testing process – with 20,000 passengers planned for repatriation by 10th June, up from approx. 10,000 in the previous phase. Further good news in the form of even more liberalization of this policy to follow soon as we analyze the passenger data.”
Earlier the government of Pakistan eased restrictions and started testing all the passengers right after their arrival at the airport. Before that passengers were supposed to wait for 48 hours before their tests were taken and then they had to wait further for the results. From the airport, all passengers and flight crew were quarantined.
The government also gave the option to people who do not wish to stay at the quarantine facility to go to a hotel. This was an additional cost to passengers who were already paying hefty fares to airlines for one-way flights.