Saudi Arabia is set to reopen its borders to international travellers on Sunday morning, although the relaxation across the kingdom comes with strict coronavirus safety guidelines, according to a report by the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Saudi closed its air, land and sea borders on December 20 following the spread of a new variant of Covid-19. This was extended further from December 27 as the precautionary measures continued.
The report by SPA said the suspension would end from 11am on Sunday, although restrictions would remain, including that travellers from the UK or South Africa, or any country identified by the Ministry of Health where the new variant is spread, must quarantine for 14 days, in a country considered safe from the mutated virus, before entering the kingdom, with a PCR test proving they are free from Covid-19.
Those entering the kingdom in emergency cases must also quarantine for a period of 14 days, although this can be done in their homes and they must take two PCR tests, “the first shall be carried out after arrival within no more than 48 hours and the second before ending the quarantine on the 13th day”.
The report added: “As for the countries in which cases of the strain were registered, those coming from them shall be quarantined in their homes under observance for a period of seven days, with PCR examination, before the end of the quarantine period on the sixth day.”
In terms of other countries, there is a seven-day maximum mandatory home quarantine (minimum three days), while a negative PCR test must also be produced at the end of that period.
To date, Saudi Arabia has recorded 362,979 cases of coronavirus, the highest number in the GCC, while the kingdom has registered 6,239 deaths as a result of Covid-19.
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