Saudi Arabia to allow conditional entry ‘from all countries’ despite Omicron

Saudis keeping social distance wait for their turn to check-in their baggages at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 16, 2021. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri

CAIRO, Nov 27 (REUTERS) – Saudi Arabia will allow entry to travellers “from all countries” as long as they have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine inside the kingdom, it said on Saturday, a day after suspending flights from seven African countries due to the Omicron variant.

The ministry said the travellers would be allowed in from next Saturday and would need to quarantine for three days. It did not mention the flight suspensions.

Saudi Arabia on Friday suspended flights to and from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini due to concerns related to the Omicron coronavirus variant.

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Reporting by Omar Fahmy and Moataz Abdelrahiem
Editing by Nick Macfie

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

source: reuters.com