RAWALPINDI: The government has announced a new policy to bring back Pakistanis stranded overseas which aims to bring back approximately 200,000 people within one month.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari announced the new policy at the rest conference on Wednesday.

Dr Yusuf said that the new policy came from the realisation that 3pc of Covid-19 cases in the country were imported. He also said that Pakistanis have the right to return home and that they should not be stigmatised.

Mr Bukhari added that if travellers do not observe the 14-day self-quarantine and “we have to close our airspace, you will create difficulty for those working abroad.”

According to the new policy, which will be enforced from June 20, all Pakistanis travelling back to the country will not be quarantined upon arrival and tested for Covid-19.

Instead, they will undergoscreeningupon arrival, after which asymptomatic passengers will be sent home and tracked by provincial authorities to ensure they isolate themselves for 14 days while symptomatic passengers will be tested and quarantined until their results come back, with the earlier choice between paid or government quarantine facilities.

People who test positive will be handled according to health protocols, while people who test negative will be allowed to return home and will be tracked by provincial authorities accordingly.

This policy will allow Pakistan to operate at 25pc of the load of its regular schedules.

Data on confirmed cases and their sources will be monitored according to the current procedure. With written requests from all the provinces in mind as well as those from people stranded abroad, the new policy will increase incoming passenger traffic to 40,000 to 45,000 people a week.

Passengers will be able to book tickets directly through airlines, and a small number of special flights will continue to countries whose airspace remains closed.

Under the previous policy, more than 75,000 Pakistanis have been repatriated since airspace reopened on April 3. There are currently approximately 98,000 people who wish to return and are registered with embassies abroad, in addition to more than 100,000 students who wish to return.

Whereas all the cases of Covid-19 were initially imported into the country, local transmission is now responsible for 96pc of infections; 3pc of cases overall are from incoming passenger traffic, with 1pc attributed to pilgrims, all of whom have been tested and quarantined accordingly.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2020