The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said it will reduce the period of institutional quarantine to five days for non-vaccinated passengers or those who received only one dose of the approved vaccines in the Kingdom, provided that they submit a negative PCR before departure for the Kingdom.
On Monday, GACA issued new instructions to all airliners operating in the Kingdom's airports to update the entry mechanism and procedures for residents and visitors arriving from countries not on Saudi Arabia's entry banned list, and to reduce the period of institutional quarantine.
The new measures will be effective as of Thursday September 23, at 12:00 pm.
GACA said that it requests two PCR tests, the first within 24 hours from arriving and the second on the 5th day of the institutional quarantine.
According to the new instructions, an individual who is immune by a COVID-19 vaccine not approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and in the Kingdom, or who is immune by receiving one of the vaccines approved by the WHO, but not approved in Saudi Arabia, is also required to submit a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before departure for Saudi Arabia and to quarantine for five days.
GACA stated that dependents are allowed to enter with their immune relatives while unvaccinated dependents shall be subject to home quarantine for five days with a PCR test taken on the 5th day.
Meanwhile, institutional quarantine procedures are applied to unvaccinated dependents aged 18 or older.
GACA stressed that residents must take the second COVID-19 dose in the Kingdom after the end of the institutional quarantine, and whoever is fully immune by vaccines approved by the WHO, but not approved in the Kingdom, currently the Sinopharma vaccine and the Sinovac vaccine, should receive a booster dose from one of the vaccines available in the Kingdom after arrival.
It said arriving passengers must register in "Quddum" platform, and that quarantine procedures will be applied according to the protocols of the Health Ministry for those who show a positive PCR test during the period of institutional quarantine.
GACA also pointed to the amendment of the home quarantine procedures for Saudi citizens.
"The home quarantine for non-vaccinated individuals is five days. A PCR test shall be taken on the 5th day. This is in addition to implementing all precautionary measures approved by the Health Ministry," it said.
The Health Ministry called on residents to take the two doses of the vaccine to protect themselves from the coronavirus variants.
On Monday, the Ministry recorded 75 COVID-19 confirmed cases and 66 recoveries, compared to 80 infections registered a day earlier.
The number of active cases reached 2,295, including 481 critical cases, while the recovery tally reached 535,144.
The ministry registered five new deaths, bringing the fatality tally to 8,628.
