Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has announced that the state will bear the expenses of treating residents and GCC citizens who need to be hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19 during their institutional quarantine in the Kingdom, said a report.
For those who arrive on a visitor visa, the treatment expenses will be covered by the insurance company, said a report in Saudi Gazette. GACA issued a guideline for travellers who are not Saudi citizens and those from exempted groups who are not immunized, and those coming from countries from which entry has not been suspended.
The guideline explains that all passengers who test positive for Covid-19 will undergo isolation in the institutional quarantine for a period of 10-14 days.
According to the guideline, all air carriers must announce on their websites that the Saudi government requires institutional quarantine for those who plan to visit the country and must, also, obtain medical insurance to cover their treatment of Covid-19.
Violators of isolation instructions or quarantine shall be punished with a fine of SAR 200,000 (USD 53,258.9) or imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or both, and in the event of a repeat violation the penalty shall be doubled, the report said.
Non-Saudi violators will be deported from the Kingdom and banned from entering indefinitely after the execution of the punishment against the individual. The institutional quarantine shall be in the city of arrival.
Travellers who intend to visit Saudi Arabia should have medical insurance that covers Covid-19 treatment costs in outpatient clinics, emergencies, and hospitals; including institutional quarantine for a period of up to 14 days. Residents and GCC citizens are excluded from obtaining insurance, it said.
Passengers who do not meet the requirements shall be sent back to the destination from where they had departed, and the air carrier shall bear the costs. The status of the immune and non-immune travelers shall be verified by air carriers at the departure airport.
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