World / S Arabia to lift travel ban on India, 5 other nations from Dec 1

Saudi Arabia: Easing travel restriction imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia has announced that it would allow vistors from six countries, including India and Pakistan. The other countries for which Saudi Arabia has lifted the travel ban are Brazil, Vietnam, Egypt and Indonesia, ANI reported.

The new directive issued by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior will come into effect from December 1.  

Fully vaccinated travellers from these six countries will be allowed to enter Saudi Arabia without the mandatory 14 days quarantine outside the country before entering the Kingdom, the guidelines said.

However, expats arriving from these countries must spend five days in quarantine regardless of their vaccination status outside Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Arabia government banned direct entry into the country in February when there was a global surge in the number of Covid-19 cases. Travel ban was imposed on travellers coming from countries like Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, South Africa, India, Indonesia and Japan. 

The travel ban was also for travellers who transited any of these 20 countries 14 days prior to a planned visit to Saudi Arabia. 

Other countries that have recently lifted entry restrictions for travellers from India include Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and Germany. 

As per World Health Organisation, as of November 25, Saudi Arabia had 549,590 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Whereas 8,828 people have succumbed to the infection in the country till date.