Travelers entering Saudi Arabia must now have medical insurance for COVID-19 treatment in case they test positive and require hospitalization. Individuals who test COVID-positive but are not required to be hospitalized will have to be quarantined for between 10-14 days during their recovery.
The Saudi government, through its updated guidelines, has urged all airlines to highlight on their websites the need for institutional quarantine and medical insurance for travelers to Saudi Arabia.
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While domestic workers accompanying diplomats and their families in Saudi Arabia will not have to undergo institutional quarantine, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) stated that diplomatic visa-holders along with their families and domestic workers need to follow home quarantine procedures in line with Ministry of Health regulations.
People who disobey these rules would be fined 200,000 riyals, imprisonment of two years or both. Updated GACA guidelines also noted that non-Saudi violators will be imprisoned and deported with an indefinite entry ban.
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Meanwhile, travelers to Saudi Arabia – except for residents and GCC citizens — need to have medical insurance for COVID-19 treatment in outpatient clinics and hospitals, including institutional quarantine for a period of up to 14 days. Passengers not meeting these requirements would be sent back with the airline bearing their costs.
Saudi Arabia highlights arriving passengers displaying proof of vaccination of one of the following vaccines — two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca, two doses of Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson. (AW)
