ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said it will revise down its coronavirus-related travel restrictions and testing protocols from November 10 following a “downward trend” in infection numbers.

The country of 220 million people has recorded less than 30,000 deaths from COVID-19 since last February and a total of 1,274,578 infections. More than 106 million people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine in Pakistan since the government launched its inoculation drive in February this year.

“Owing to mass vaccination undertaken by various countries, a downward trend has been witnessed in all COVID indicators across the globe,” Pakistan’s federal pandemic response body, the NCOC, said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “After enforcement of obligatory vaccination for inbound travel in Pakistan with effect from 1 October 21, COVID related travel policy and health/testing protocols have been revised.”

The statement added: “Inbound Air Traffic will operate at full quantum with effect from 10 November 2021.”

Five countries were placed in Category C “on the basis of “high positivity, high daily COVID cases and deaths and low vaccination rate.” These are Armenia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Iraq and Mexico.

Five countries were designated as “high-risk:” Mongolia, Slovenia, Thailand, Ukraine and Trinidad & Tobago.

“In the wake of ‘high disease’ indicators, the following countries have been placed in a high-risk list for continuous monitoring, however, no travel restrictions have been imposed on them,” the NCOC said, listing Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, Germany, Philippines and Afghanistan.

The statement said there was a “fully vaccinated” requirement for all inbound passengers, while all passengers aged six and above needed a negative PCR test report from 72 hours before boarding.

“Afghani Inbound pedestrians can travel to Pakistan through Border Terminals without vaccination certificate/PCR,” the NCOC said. “However, they will undergo stringent testing/quarantine protocols.”