PAKISTAN has banned travel from 15 countries and tightened up travel restrictions on 13 other nations amid the threat of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan’s top coronavirus response agency, reviewed the Covid-19 situation across the globe to revise the categorisation of travel.
According to an NCOC statement on Monday (6), the agency revised categories based on disease profiles and health protocols applicable to travellers from different countries. Countries have been placed in three categories - A, B and C.
Category ‘C' includes 15 countries: Croatia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Ireland, Slovenia, Vietnam, Poland, South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
A "complete ban on inbound travel from Category C countries" has been imposed but essential travel from these countries would necessitate obtaining an exemption certificate, it said.
Pakistan will allow travel only with 100 per cent vaccination for all inbound passengers and those aged above six years are required to have negative PCR test reports (maximum 48 hours old) before boarding.
However, deportees are exempted from the PCR test report requirement.
All travellers aged six years or above have to undergo rapid antigen tests (RATs) on arrival even if travelling via direct or indirect flights from Category ‘C' countries. RAT negative cases will be allowed to proceed.
However, RAT negative travellers from South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia will have to undergo three days of mandatory quarantine followed by a PCR test to be conducted on the third day by the civil administration. RAT positive cases will be quarantined for 10 days.
The NCOC placed Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US, the UK, Thailand, France, Austria, Afghanistan and Turkey in category B. Travellers from these countries should be fully vaccinated.
All passengers aged six years or above are required to have negative PCR test reports (maximum 48 hours old) before boarding, but deportees are exempted from the PCR test requirement.
RAT of random flights will be conducted at airports on arrival from Category ‘B' countries. RAT negative cases will be allowed to proceed but RAT positive cases will be quarantined for 10 days.
All other countries not included in Category ‘C' and ‘B' are placed in Category ‘A'. Travellers should be 100 per cent vaccinated. All those aged six years and above should be in possession of a negative PCR test report (maximum 48 hours old) before boarding. But deportees are exempted from PCR test requirements.
All Pakistan nationals can travel from Category 'C' countries without exemption till December 15 but testing protocols will be mandatory on arrival.
(PTI)
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)