Kuwait lifts ban on travellers from India, five other countries,after having previously restricted flights over COVID-19 concerns

Kuwait: The Kuwait government on Wednesday announced the resumption of commercial flights coming from India and five other countries, after having previously restricted flights over COVID-19 concerns, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.  

The other five countries are: Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The resumption of commercial from these countries will be effective from August 22, 2021.

The decision was made in a cabinet meeting which underlined that flights with these countries would be subject to measures identified by Kuwait’s ministerial COVID-19 emergency committee, KUNA adds.

The Kuwait government only recognises Pfizer-bioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna, and the single shot Johnson & Johnson as approved vaccines against the COVID-19.

Entry is open to those who have received any of these vaccines.

Recipients of unauthorized vaccines, including Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Sputnik must have received the Kuwaiti approved vaccine as the third dose.

People vaccinated inside Kuwait are asked to show their vaccination certificates as soon as they arrive in Kuwait via the immune and Kuwait mobile ID applications.

However, passengers vaccinated outside the country should submit their documents, containing their



names as written in their passports, name of the vaccine taken, date of immunisation, administering body and the QR code for these documents to be verified electronically, KUNA added.

In case of the absence of the QR code, the documents can be uploaded via the ministry of health link.

Non-Kuwaitis travelling to the country are required to take two PCR examinations. First PCR test, which confirms the passenger is COVID-19 negative, has to be taken 72 hours before arriving in Kuwait. The other test will be taken during the quarantine period, seven days after arrival.

Kuwait had banned foreigners from entering the country since last February as part of efforts to prevent COVID-19 infections in the country.

On April 24, the Kuwaiti civil aviation authorities announced that all commercial flights from India would be banned until further notice, due to a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases.

Over one million Indian community members live in Kuwait, the largest expatriate community in the country, according to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait.

Kuwait earlier allowed direct flights to 12 countries from July 1. The list of the countries include: Britain, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, Netherlands, Greece, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.