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Saudi citizens are not allowed to travel to 16 countries on all continents. These are Turkey, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya and Venezuela. The official reason — “situation” with COVID-19 in these countries. However, this “list of sixteen” raises doubts among experts: after all, only the Congo reports an increase in cases of COVID-19. Moreover, no new restrictions for arriving foreigners were introduced.
The Saudi Ministry of Health announced 414 new cases of coronavirus over the weekend, with weekly numbers up five times from March and April. Saudi citizens need to receive three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to leave the country, and children aged 12 to 16 — two. An exception is made only for those who received a medical exemption from vaccination.
In recent weeks, fears have been growing in Saudi Arabia due to the spread of the monkeypox virus, but so far this has not affected the ban on passengers. The Ministry of Health of the Kingdom assured that no infection was detected inside the country, and there are enough methods and means in laboratories for timely monitoring and diagnosis.
How long the measures related to the list of 16 banned countries will be in effect is not reported.