An official source at the Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday a suspension of flights to and from seven countries, namely Republic of Malawi, Republic of Zambia, Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Angola, Republic of Seychelles, Republic of Mauritius, Republic of Comoros. The source stated that this decision was taken due to reasons related to the outbreak of the emerging Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and based on the constant follow-up of the epidemiological situation and reports of the health authorities in Saudi Arabia about the emergence of a mutated strain of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) "Omicron" in several countries, and monitoring the movement of infected people from these countries to other countries. The official source said that the non-Saudi passengers arriving directly or indirectly from the aforementioned countries are not allowed to enter the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provided that they spend 14 days in other countries allowed by Saudi authorities. The exempted categories, including Saudis, coming from the seven countries should be subject to a five-day constitutional quarantine regardless of the state of vaccination, the source added. The Ministry of Interior stressed that whoever will enter the Kingdom from those previously announced countries or states, or passed through them, as of November 1, 2021, is required to have a negative PCR result for the virus conducted after arriving in the Kingdom. The official source reiterated that all procedures and measures are subject to continuous evaluation by the competent health authorities in the Kingdom, per the developments of the epidemiological situation globally, warning citizens and residents to avoid traveling to the aforementioned countries until further notice.
