The Oman state news agency reported on Sunday that foreigners aged 18 or older must have received at least two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in order to enter the country.
As the number of cases of Omicron has increased rapidly around the world in the past few weeks, emergency travel restrictions were imposed earlier this month to stop the spread of the disease.
According to the state news agency, Oman’s Covid-19 Supreme Committee stated “vaccination remains as a requirement for getting into public and private establishments.”
Public health officials urged the public to follow all precautionary measures, and “people with pulmonary diseases should not enter any workplace.”
The government has also lifted an entry ban from seven African countries and required individuals to submit to a PCR test upon arrival. South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique are among the countries the committee “decided to lift the ban on the entry the statement reads.
A negative PCR test issued within a maximum of 72 hours is required for entry into Oman, according to the committee.
Known cases of Omicron were found in early December, with 12 people testing positive for the variant as the sultanate announced booster vaccinations for people 18 and older.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, Oman has had 305,105 cases and 4,114 deaths. Health officials have ordered that all indoor public places, such as malls, shops, schools, hotels, and mosques, operate at 50 percent capacity until further notice.
In dozens of nations, the Omicron variant has been reported, and as it spreads, the number of patients needing hospital care is expected to increase, according to the World Health Organization, with Africa accounting for over 46 percent of all reported cases worldwide.
