NCOC changes policy for inbound passengers following decline in COVID-19

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has revised the policy for inbound passengers as Pakistan sees a decline in COVID-19 infections.

"The inbound policy was reviewed after which it was decided to ease restrictions with effect from 0001 PST, February 24, 2022," the NCOC announced.

NCOC has implemented the following health/testing protocols:

• Pre-boarding negative PCR has been abolished for fully vaccinated inbound travellers. However, non-vaccinated individuals over 12 years will require pre-boarding negative PCR (72 hours old).
• Mandatory full vaccination for all inbound passengers.
• Passengers below 12 years of age are exempted from mandatory vaccination.
• Passengers between 12-18 years of age are allowed to travel without mandatory vaccination till March 31, 2022.
• Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on arrival for deportees and non-vaccinated pedestrians at Border Terminals; Positive cases will be home quarantined for 10 x days.

Following a drop in the COVID positivity ratio, the NCOC eased restrictions in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Peshawar on Tuesday as well.

Pakistan sees rise in COVID-19 deaths after days of decline

Pakistan's daily COVID-19 death toll witnessed a hike again after several days of decline as 43 people succumbed to the virus in a single day, the NCOC's data showed Wednesday morning.

The country's daily death count remained below the 40 mark for the last five days.

As per today's statistics, the new additions placed the country's total number of coronavirus deaths reported so far at 30,096.

The national COVID-19 body said it conducted 41,744 diagnostic tests in the last 24 hours, of which 1,232 came back positive. With this, Pakistan's coronavirus positivity ratio rose to 2.95% and the overall case count to 1,503,873.

Meanwhile, 3,154 people infected with coronavirus recuperated overnight, pushing the number of active cases down to 64,262.