Kuwait has banned entry for people from more than 16 countries, as the country takes drastic measures to contain the COVID-19 infection from spreading in the country.
Thousands of Kuwaitis who arrived or were repatriated from Iran, Italy and other countries affected with the viral infection have been quarantined in resorts and 58 cases reported so far have been isolated and are treated in special hospital wards.
At the same time, authorities in Kuwait are also making sure that foreigners from countries infected with the virus do not enter the country. The most recent step to boost this policy of preventing the entry of potentially infected foreigners, has been to bar flights from countries reported to be infected with the virus causing COVID-19.
In an emergency meeting held at the Seif Palace on Friday, the Cabinet headed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah decided to tighten controls on flights to and from countries hit by COVID-19 infections.
In addition to the earlier suspension of flights to and from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, the Cabinet decided to ban, with immediate effect, all flights from and to Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Lebanon, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Syria, for one week. The government stressed that the new measures were meant only to protect the health and safety of citizens and expatriate residents in the country, and urged everyone to understand the urgency of these measures.
The authorities also preempted attempts by any ban-busters — who might attempt to sneak into the country by flying in from countries not in the banned list, such as other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states — by warning that people who had visited the countries on the flight-ban list in the last two weeks would also be denied entry to Kuwait. The Cabinet made clear that only Kuwaitis stranded in infected countries would be allowed entry.
However, what was not made clear in the latest Cabinet decision is why only 16 countries were chosen for the flight ban seeing how COVID-19 infection has by now spread to over 100 countries and territories worldwide, and why only for one week as the virus has been reported to remain dormant in infected people for over two weeks.
Many expatriates in Kuwait hailing from countries on the flight-ban list, who were planning to go on leave and had booked their tickets, are also said to be frantically trying to have their tickets cancelled and refunded. Mercifully, the government has allowed people who are in the flight-ban list of countries to avail of a ‘permission of absence’ in case their residences are set to expire or their stay abroad has neared the six-month cut off time limit.
Sources at the Ministry of Interior explained that company representatives (mandoubs) can apply for this ‘permission of absence’ on behalf of an expatriate, who is currently outside the country. The Director of Residency Affairs has been authorized to issue this ‘permission’ to extend residency permits for an additional period of three months.