The federal government has abolished the 48-hour quarantine condition for Pakistanis returning home from abroad, and they would now be sent to their homes after a medical check-up and test at the airports, The Express Tribune reported.
The report stated that the government changed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) because the capacity at quarantine centres had been contracting due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
According to the new SOPs, all passengers would undergo a complete medical check-up at the airports, while the staff deputed by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and provincial health departments at the airports will test the travellers for coronavirus.
After the medical check-up and the coronavirus test, the passengers will be allowed to go their homes, instead of the quarantine centre, if they do not show any symptoms of COVID-19. The decision about suspected coronavirus patients has been left at the discretion of doctors.
Under the new policy, all the passengers will be checked at the health counters of the airports. The record will carry the names and addresses of suspected coronavirus travellers and will be quarantined at home upon not showing any symptoms.
On Wednesday, the NIH team conducted medical check-ups and coronavirus tests of all the passengers including 281 travellers coming from the United States (US) and 253 travellers coming from Saudi Arabia via a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight at the Islamabad airport, after which all the travellers were permitted to go to their homes, the report said.
Meanwhile, with yet another record hike in number of infections, the tally of coronavirus cases in Pakistan now stands at 85,264 with at least 1,770 deaths.
