Manama: Passengers who wish to come to Kuwait will have to undergo mandatory PCR tests to rule out COVID-19 four days before boarding a flight to the country, state news agency KUNA said.
Though Kuwait hasn’t resumed the commercial flights yet, the authority is setting up conditions for traveling in and out of the country.
The new instructions mandatorily require the passenger to obtain an Arabic copy of PCR test medical certificate stating he / she is clean of the virus.
The decision was taken by the council of ministers, and directed the airlines to inform the passengers of the requirement of the PCR test certificate at their own expense. The certificate should be handed over to the health authorities upon arrival at Kuwait Airport.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and the concerned authorities have been instructed to implement this.
Travel abroad will be permitted and the travel period shouldn’t be more than 30 days.
Limited air travel would be allowed for people with critical health conditions who should travel at their own expense, government spokesperson Tareq Al Merzem said.
Students studying abroad, who should travel to attend their tests, will be allowed to travel. Also, citizens who have a foreign spouse, or residing abroad, or special cases will be allowed to travel out of the country.
Those who wish to travel outside the country must submit a request to travel to the Interior Ministry at least days prior to the trip with the required documents stating the purpose of the travel. The circular states that if the travel permit is granted, the passenger has to submit a declaration and pledge stating that he will bear the expenses of the treatment in case of contraction of the virus, and cost of return. Also, has to state that he will not approach the government or demand for financial assistance.
The government plans to resume flights in three phase manner. Though any deadline to start the commercial flight service has not been announced, it is expected to resume service in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Kuwait will move to a 10-hour curfew from 7pm to 5am starting Sunday, as part of a slew of measures to ease coronavirus-related restrictions. The government will lift the lockdown on Hawally, Nuqra, Maiden and some blocks in Khaitan, Al Merzem , the spokesman added.
Kuwait decided to extend the first phase of a plan to restore normalcy gradually due to the significant increase in the number of coronavirus infections among Kuwaiti citizens, he said. The public sector employees will not be allowed to return to offices next week.
On May 26, the government announced a five-phase plan to gradually return to normal life, replacing the nationwide full curfew, which lasted until May 30, with a 12-hour partial curfew.
Kuwait infection tally reached 38,678 on Friday with 313 fatalities. Kuwait has the highest number of recoveries in the Arab world- over 78 % or 30,198 recoveries out of the total cases.
The country has done a total of 3,49,412 virus tests so far including 3,087 over the past 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health.
