Saudi Arabia introduces new Covid-19 travel restrictions

Medical authorities in Saudi Arabia recorded 621 new cases of Covid-19 on 17 May 2022.

Following the spike in cases, Saudi authorities have banned citizens from travelling to 16 countries considered to pose high risk.

India and Turkey – both popular outbound destinations for Saudi travellers – are among the countries on the list. Saudi Airlines only just resumed commercial flights to Istanbul at the start of May after a hiatus of almost two years due to the pandemic. On the 21 May, the Turkish Ministry of Health recorded 1,264 new Covid-19 infections.

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Saudi Arabia's Directorate General of Passports (Jawazat) issued the complete list the countries that citizens are prohibited to travel to. They are:

1. Afghanistan
2. Armenia
3. Democratic Republic of the Congo
4. Ethiopia
5. India
6. Indonesia
7. Iran
8. Lebanon
9. Libya
10. Russia Al-Bayda
11. Somalia
12. Syria
13. Turkey
14. Venezuela
15. Vietnam
16. Yemen