The new covid-19 strain was recently found in the UK, and amid that several countries like Oman and Saudi Arabia had shut their borders for tourist. And now as vaccination begins in Oman, the sultanate has announced the reopening of its borders. Oman will now reopen its borders on Tuesday, December 29. The border will reopen at midnight, and here are all the rules that you must know.
Also read: Travellers From 103 Countries Can Now Enter Oman Without A Visa For 10 Days
Oman Makes 7-Day Quarantine Compulsory For Travellers
Oman is all set to welcome tourists again. And for travellers, it’s now mandatory to quarantine for seven days in the sultanate. Each traveller must produce a negative PCR test before flying and test again on arrival. Besides this, downloading of Oman’s Covid-19 tracking app Tarrasud is also a compulsion.
The #Covid19 Supreme Committee decides to end the ban on entry to and exit from the Sultanate through various border outlets starting from 12 am on Tuesday, 29 December 2020. This is in addition to new decisions to protect society against Covid-19 variants.#OmanVSCovid19 pic.twitter.com/CRKkfZQHvF
— عُمان تواجه كورونا (@OmanVSCovid19) December 27, 2020
The Government Advises Citizens To Avoid International Travel
For the residents, the government has advised citizens to avoid international travel by all means unless its extremely urgent. While everything was shut for a week, cargo ships and lorries were exempted from the ban to keep food and other supplies entering.
Also read: This Spa In Oman Has Been Ranked As The World’s Best For The Fourth Consecutive Year
The reason behind opening the borders for tourists is because Oman has now started vaccinating its first residents and citizens against coronavirus. Health Minister Ahmed Al Saeedi received one of the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Sunday. He and all other receivers will take a second dose after 21 days.
Also read: Oman To Charge Travellers For Transit From January 1, 2021
The First Phase Of Vaccination To Arrive In January
The first delivery of the vaccine contained 15,600 doses, and 28,000 are expected to arrive in January, Mr Al Saeedi said. The first phase of vaccination will cover 20 per cent of the population. Frontline workers, the elderly and those with chronic conditions will be vaccinated first in the programme.
Well, we hope that this reopening boosts the economy and tourists take enough precautions before entering the country.