BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – The Bruneian government yesterday announced updated guidelines for inbound and outbound travel, temporarily removing all countries from its travel green list.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement that considering the current Covid-19 situation – particularly the rising cases in several countries and the threat of the Omicron variant – the Steering Committee for Covid-19 has agreed to temporarily remove all countries from the travel green list, Xinhua reported.
“In this regard, there will be no countries placed in the travel green list from January 1, 2022,” the PMO said.
The country said earlier this month that from January 1, 2022, citizens and residents of Brunei as well as foreign nationals who have completed their Covid-19 vaccinations are permitted to exit the country for non-essential travel via air transportation to countries on the travel green list, including Australia, China, Singapore and Britain.
Britain was taken off the travel green list a week earlier, following the rapid spread of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant there.
According to the PMO, the newly updated guidelines require all travellers to undergo an RT-PCR test 48 hours before departure from their country.
Foreigners who wish to enter Brunei for essential purposes must obtain entry-travel approval. All inbound travellers are also required to undergo mandatory self-isolation at designated hotels and need to take an Antigen Rapid Test upon arrival in the country as well as an RT-PCR test on the fifth day post-arrival.
Essential outbound travel is allowed for citizens and permanent residents of Brunei who have obtained exit-travel approval and received two doses of Covid-19 vaccination within 14 days to three months before departure, or for those who have received a booster dose.
As of December 28, 94.5% of Brunei’s population had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccines, while 93.2% had completed their vaccination schedule of two doses and 17.9% had received three doses.
The country reported four new confirmed cases of Covid-19 yesterday, bringing the total tally to 15,465.
According to Brunei’s Health Ministry, the newly recorded cases included three local infections and one imported case.
A total of 100 active cases are still being treated and monitored in Brunei and 100 patients have died in the country. – Bernama, December 30, 2021
