Travellers from India, Egypt among others, need health clearance to enter Kuwait

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation in Kuwait took to Twitter on Tuesday, asking inbound passengers arriving from ten countries to produce health certificates to gain entry.

Civil Aviation:​Medical Examination for Expats Arriving ​​​from Ten Countries to Kuwait pic.twitter.com/FJW9tdmzk9

— الطيران المدني (@Kuwait_DGCA) March 3, 2020

The directive, to be implemented March 8 onwards, expects passengers arriving from India, Egypt, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Syria and Lebanon, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia to undergo medical tests and procure certificates that yield negative coronavirus results before getting onto a Kuwait-bound plane.

Those found in violation of the injunction will be denied entry.

The examination certificate must be issued by medical centers approved by Kuwaiti embassies in those countries.

In countries where there are no Kuwaiti missions, the document must be certified by relevant local health authorities.

Passengers who fail to produce the certificate will be barred from entering Kuwait and will be sent back on the same carrier, which will be fined for infraction.

Kuwaiti citizens are excluded from the ruling, and will be subject to protocols ascertained by Kuwaiti health authorities.

The total number of those infected in the country total 56 while the ministry confirmed that it carried out tests on some 3,100 people, majority of whom had returned from Iran, Kuwait Times reported.

Kuwait reportedly postponed the GCC Games, a regional multi-sport tournament, from April to December.

Schools and universities across the country were suspended for two weeks beginning March 1.

Read: Kuwait’s coronavirus cases surge 65%

Kuwait has suspended flights to and from Iraq, South Korea, Thailand, Italy, in an attempt to contain the virus. It also stalled all flights to and from Singapore and Japan.