CAA issues new travel advisory amid COVID-19 resurge

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The notification has been issued by CAA’s director air transport and will be valid from November 6 till December 31.Photo: File

LAHORE: Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Friday reduced the number of countries from where passengers were allowed to enter Pakistan without a coronavirus test. 

The latest travel advisory divides international travellers into two categories where category A will not need a negative COVID-19 test while those in category B will be required to undergo coronavirus screening 96 hours prior to boarding a flight to Pakistan. 

Keeping in view a COVID-19 surge across the globe, the number of countries in category A has been reduced from 30 to 22. These include Singapore, China, Cuba, Estonia, Japan, Ghana, Norway, Turkey, Vietnam, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka and others. 

The new advisory requires airlines to ensure the coronavirus SOPs are followed and has made it mandatory for passengers to fill out the health declaration form.

The notification has been issued by CAA’s director air transport and will be valid from November 6 till December 31.

COVID-19 surge

Global daily COVID-19 cases have risen by nearly 25% in less than two weeks as the world witnessed 400,000 daily reported cases for the first time last Friday. 

Most western countries and parts of Latin America have reported their highest single-day surges in the past few weeks. Many governments, with the notable exception of the United States, have started taking stronger measures to bring the spread of the virus under control.

Europe, North America and Latin America account for over 66% of global cases and over 76% of global deaths.

Europe’s new daily infections have doubled over the past two weeks as it reported more than 250,000 cases for the first time on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally. The region has so far reported about 9.5 million cases and about 261,000 deaths.

The United States continues to lead the worldwide coronavirus tally with about 8.9 million infections and about 228,000 fatalities since the pandemic started.

The United States is reporting about 75,000 cases a day on an average, according to a Reuters analysis and its death toll from COVID-19 could surpass 500,000 by February unless nearly all Americans wear face masks, researchers said.

Asia surpassed 10 million infections of the new coronavirus on Saturday, the second-heaviest regional toll in the world, according to a Reuters tally, as cases continue to mount in India despite a slowdown and sharp declines elsewhere.

India, the world’s second most populous country as well as the second worst affected country, is reporting about 48,000 cases a day on an average with a total of about 8 million cases, according to a Reuters tally.


With additional input from Reuters.