RAWALPINDI: In an effort to curb the spike of coronavirus cases in Pakistan, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday notified a fresh list of countries categorised into A, B and C after emergence of South African and Brazilian strain of virus and imposed a complete ban on travel from 12 countries.

The travel restrictions and a ban on inbound passengers from 12 countries, categorised as C, will remain effective from March 23 to April 5.

The CAA said in a notification: “Conveyed by NCOC, there will be a complete travel ban on inbound travel to Pakistan from category C countries, including withdrawal of exemptions earlier provided to Pakistani passport holders, NICOP holders and POC holders. The temporary measure is being introduced in continuation to the steps being taken to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Pakistan.”

The CAA has updated its category C, for inbound travellers and shifted the United Kingdom from category C to category B, a spokesman for the Aviation Division said.

Director Air Transport and Economic Regulations of the CAA Irfan Sabir issued a notification about the revised list of countries.

The notification said that travel restrictions on inbound travel to Pakistan from category C countries conveyed earlier on January 29 will also continue to remain effective until April 5.

The CAA said the international travellers from category A countries do not require Covid-19 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test before entry into Pakistan.

Australia, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mongolia, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago and Vietnam have been placed in category A.

Botswana, Brazil, Columbia, Comoros, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Peru, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia have been placed in category C.

The international travellers from countries not specified in category A require Covid-19 test before commencement of travel to Pakistan.

The notification said all countries which are not specified in A and C fall in category B.

The international travel to Pakistan from category C countries is restricted and only allowed as per guidelines of the National Command and Operation Centre.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2021