Saudi Arabia Lifts Entry Restrictions, Borders Reopen

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JAKARTA - The government of Saudi Arabia has lifted the ban on entry at sea, land and air borders so that transportation access from abroad is re-opened today.

Nonetheless, foreign nationals and other arrivals are asked not to be in Britain, South Africa and other countries reporting a new strain of COVID-19 for 14 days before entering Saudi Arabia, an official at the Interior Ministry said, as quoted Antara from the Saudi Arabian news agency (SPA), Sunday, January 3.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia closed borders on 21 December 2020 and suspended commercial international flight services to prevent a new variant of COVID-19 from entering the country.

The ban was then extended on December 28, 2020 for one week, the SPA reports.

Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said it would continue to observe and review the latest developments while allowing foreign nationals and foreign airlines to leave Saudi Arabia.

When the prohibition took effect, the distribution of goods and services continued normally.

Several countries around the world, including Indonesia, closed their borders to foreign nationals for one to two weeks to prevent transmission of the two new variants of COVID-19 found in the UK and South Africa.

A new variant of COVID-19 in the UK, named B.1.1.7, has been found in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brazil, Canada and the United States. Although there is no complete research regarding the new variant, some researchers, through their reports, believe that the new type of COVID-19 is more easily transmitted.

Head of the Applied Genetic Engineering and Design Protein Laboratory of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Wien Kusharyoto, said last month that there was no concrete evidence so far that the B.1.1.7 variant was deadlier than other types.

However, a study in Britain showed the new variant was 56 percent more infectious than the other strains.

He added that genome sequencing must be done first to find out and examine the possibility that a new variant of COVID-19 has entered Indonesia.