São Paulo – The government of Saudi Arabia will lift the ban on the entry of foreigners from six countries into its territory, including Brazil. Direct access of people from Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, India, and Vietnam was barred; to halt the spread of COVID-19 in the Arab country. The lift will come into effect next Wednesday, December 1, according to information from the Saudi newspaper Arab News website. Pictured above, the departures area at the Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil.
The Saudi Ministry of Interior has issued guidelines for allowing the entry of citizens from the six countries. They must be fully vaccinated and quarantined for five days upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, regardless of their immunization status. Before, they needed to spend 14 days in transit far from their countries to enter.
In February this year, Saudi Arabia banned the direct entry of citizens from several countries to prevent the arrival of coronavirus variants detected in Great Britain, South Africa, and Brazil, given the possibility of existing vaccines being ineffective against them.
The Ministry of Interior stated the announced procedures and measures are subject to ongoing evaluation by Saudi Arabia’s health authorities. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), until November 25, 549,590 COVID-19 cases were registered in Saudi Arabia, with 8,828 deaths. 47.2 million vaccine shots were applied. The country has around 35 million inhabitants.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
