RAWALPINDI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has revised travel protocol for inbound/transit passengers and abolished the requirement of rapid antigen test at airports for passengers traveling from Pakistan to Dubai and Sharjah.

A spokesman for Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority said on Tuesday that the UAE government had exempted Pakistani passengers from antigen however passengers will have to submit a negative PCR test taken 48 hours ago at airports.

The validity of the 48-hour period will be calculated from the time of the sample given to the laboratory, the spokesman said.

Passengers will also have to undergo Covid-19 PCR test on arrival in Dubai and must remain in self-quarantine until the test results come out.

All passengers transiting to Dubai do not have to show a PCR negative test except those who have to show PCR negative on arrival at the final destination.

However, UAE nationals are exempted from taking a Covid-19 PCR test before departing from Dubai. They must be tested on arrival in Dubai irrespective if they are holding valid negative Covid-19 RT-PCR certificate from the point of origin.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2022