KUWAIT CITY, June 3: The Turkish authorities officially announced that Kuwaitis traveling to Turkey are exempted from the requirements to present a negative PCR test result and undergo quarantine if they have been vaccinated against coronavirus or have contracted the virus; but they are required to present a document issued by the Kuwaiti authorities proving that they got vaccinated at least 14 days before entering Turkey or were infected in the last six months before entering Turkey, reports Al-Jarida daily. In a statement on its official Twitter account, the Turkish Embassy in Kuwait disclosed that since the beginning of this month, new regulations have been implemented regarding the PCR test for all travelers across land, sea and air borders.

According to the embassy, travelers from Kuwait and other countries (except Afghanistan, Brazil, South Africa, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Iran, Egypt and Singapore) must present any of the documents mentioned above. If these travelers do not have any of the documents, they are required to submit a negative PCR test result 72 hours prior to entry or a negative rapid antigen test result 48 hours before entering Turkey. The embassy went on to say that the Turkish Ministry of Health will conduct random PCR tests for arriving passengers; while the crew of aircraft and ships, key personnel on ships and truck drivers are exempted from the PCR and quarantine procedures.

In addition, the Italian Ministry of Tourism has confirmed that Kuwaitis are welcome to Italy. Official spokesman of the ministry Fabrizio Raffoni revealed that tourists, who have completed vaccination with any of the vaccines approved in the European Union countries, can enter Italy without the need to undergo quarantine. During his meeting with Kuwaiti Ambassador to Italy Sheikh Azzam Al-Sabah recently, Raffoni pointed out that the ancient Italian cities, fashion sector, industries, famous islands and therapeutic clinics made his country one of the best high-end tourist destinations for Kuwaitis. He affirmed the Italian government has started easing restrictions related to the corona pandemic, owing to the decreasing infection rate and massive vaccination campaign.