KARACHI: Passengers traveling to the United Arab Emirates will be able to get themselves tested for COVID-19 at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport from Saturday, Dr. Farhan Essa Abdullah, the chief executive of Essa Laboratory & Diagnostic Center, told Arab News on Thursday.
“The testing facility at the airport in Karachi will become functional in record time and start working from Saturday,” he said, adding his organization would employ 150 people to serve all UAE-bound passengers from 24 counters.
“It is a joint effort of Essa Laboratory, airline services and airport authorities,” he added.
The UAE lifted a ban on transit passenger traffic from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries on August 5, though it required passengers traveling from these countries to present negative rapid PCR tests taken less than four hours before their departure.
Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had earlier maintained the country did not have enough resources to conduct these tests, adding that only rapid antigen testing facility was currently available at the country’s airports.
Speaking to Arab News, CAA spokesperson Ismail Khoso said laboratories were selected by airlines according to the requirements of their respective destinations.
“CAA will provide all possible facilities to the selected laboratories at all the international airports of the country,” he added.
Khoso told Arab News a day earlier the CAA had started installing rapid PCR testing facilities for passengers traveling to the UAE from Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi.
The rapid PCR test can determine a COVID-19 case even before a person becomes infectious, making it possible to isolate such individuals on time. Other tests detect viral proteins, revealing the patient’s condition at the peak of the infection.
“Different laboratories have informed [us] that they have procured rapid PCR testing machines and will be able to install them at airports within the next few days,” Khoso said on Wednesday. “We are also in touch with the foreign ministry to get relaxation from the UAE government.”
Sialkot International Airport is the only place in Pakistan that has installed the facility until now.
“We are working along the same lines [as Sialkot] and have asked airlines and UAE-approved labs to install rapid PCR testing machines at our major airports,” he said.
However, he added the process required more effort since other airports were bigger than the one in Sialkot and catered to hundreds of UAE-bound passengers every day.
Sialkot introduced the testing facility on Monday as an initiative by local businessmen.
The airport itself has the distinction of being the first privately owned public airport in Pakistan, built through funding and efforts by the business community of the city.
Along with the nearby cities of Gujranwala and Gujrat, Sialkot forms part of the so-called “Golden Triangle” of Pakistan’s industrial cities with export-oriented economies.
Rapid PCR testing facility at Karachi airport to help UAE-bound passengers from Saturday
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Rapid PCR testing facility at Karachi airport to help UAE-bound passengers from Saturday
- The United Arab Emirates recently lifted a travel ban from Pakistan and other countries, though it made the rapid PCR test mandatory for travelers
- Sialkot International Airport is the only place in Pakistan that has installed the facility until now
Pakistan’s president defends ongoing strikes in Afghanistan, urges Kabul to dismantle militants
- Afghanistan on Thursday launched attacks in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous Sunday
- Pakistan’s military says it is only targeting Afghan military installations to avoid civilian casualties
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s president on Monday defended his country’s ongoing military strikes in neighboring Afghanistan, saying Islamabad tried all forms of diplomacy before targeting militants operating from Afghan territory, and called on the Taliban government in Kabul to disarm groups responsible for attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan earlier said it is in “open war” with Afghanistan, alarming the international community. The border area remains a stronghold for militant organizations including Al-Qaeda and the Daesh (Islamic State) group.
“(The Afghan Taliban) must choose to dismantle the terror groups that survive on conflict and its war economy,” Asif Ali Zardari said during a speech to lawmakers, adding that “no state accepts serial attacks on its soil.”
Afghanistan on Thursday launched attacks in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous Sunday. Since then, Pakistan has carried out operations along the border, with Information Minister Attaullah Tarar claiming the killing of 435 Afghan forces and the capture of 31 Afghan positions.
Kabul has denied such claims.
In Afghanistan, the deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said Pakistan’s military fired mortar shells at a refugee camp in eastern Kunar province, killing three children and injuring three others.
Afghanistan’s defense ministry said Afghan forces carried out strikes targeting a Pakistani military facility near Paktia province, causing “substantial losses and heavy casualties.”
Pakistan’s military did not respond to questions. It has said Pakistan is only targeting Afghan military installations to avoid civilian casualties.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge of violence in recent months and blames it on the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. It operates both inside Pakistan and from Afghan territory.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe havens for the TTP, which Kabul denies.
The latest cross-border fighting ended a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye in October. The two sides failed to reach a permanent agreement during talks in Istanbul.
Zardari reiterated Pakistan’s call for talks, saying, “We have never walked away from dialogue.”
The Pakistani leader again accused Afghanistan of acting as a proxy for India by sheltering militant groups.
“Stop being used by another country as a battlefield for their ambitions,” he said.
Zardari cited a recent report from the United Nations Security Council’s monitoring team that described the presence of militant groups in Afghanistan as an extra-regional threat.
