Saudi Arabia reopens borders closed due to COVID-19

This picture taken on December 17, 2020 shows Saudi Arabia’s Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine (Tozinameran) in the capital Riyadh. Image: AFP/FAYEZ NURELDINE

Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday, Jan. 3, the reopening of borders and the resumption of international flights after a two-week suspension aimed to stem the spread of a new COVID-19 strain.

The government ordered the lifting of “precautionary measures related to the spread of a new variant of coronavirus,” the Ministry of the Interior said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia has recorded more than 363,000 cases, including over 6,200 deaths — the highest among the Gulf Arab states — but has also reported a high recovery rate.

Riyadh suspended international flights and access through land crossings and ports on Dec. 21, 2020.

Other Gulf countries, Oman and Kuwait, who had taken similar measures, have also lifted them in recent days.

But travelers returning from Britain, South Africa or “any country where the new variant of the coronavirus is spreading” are subject to more restrictions, the statement added.

Foreigners coming from those countries must spend 14 days in another country before entering Saudi Arabia, and show a negative test.

Saudi nationals returning from those countries will be able to enter directly — but must then spend two weeks in quarantine on arrival and be subject to tests.

Saudi Arabia was one of the first Gulf countries to launch a massive vaccination campaign using the Pfizer-BioNTech jab last month. CC

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