Passengers from 17 countries entering Kazakhstan do not need to provide PCR test reports

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

According to Air Astana, the order signed by the chief health physician of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 15 August 2020 states that from 17 August 2020, Kazakhstan is adopting different requirements for passengers entering the country by civil airliner according to their country of origin. Among them, passengers from 17 countries do not need to submit PCR test reports upon entry.

In the Order No. 48 of the "Isolation Restriction Measures and Phased Removal" signed by the chief health physician of Kazakhstan, Aijan Yesimahanbetova, the countries that have civil aviation routes with Kazakhstan are classified.

Relevant countries are divided into three categories. For passengers from the first category of countries, they will not be required to provide a PCR test certificate when entering Kazakhstan.

The first category includes the People's Republic of China, South Korea, Japan, Georgia, Thailand, Hungary, India, Germany, Czech Republic, Malaysia, UAE, Belarus, Turkey, Egypt, Ukraine, Netherlands and Russia. Passengers from the above-mentioned countries only need to fill out a questionnaire and measure their body temperature when entering the country.

The second category includes Poland, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. This category also includes evacuees and charter flight passengers from countries in the third category. In addition to filling out the questionnaire and measuring body temperature, passengers of this category must submit a valid PCR negative test certificate within 5 days to the Kazakhstan Customs upon entry. If the PCR certificate cannot be submitted, the passenger must undergo PCR testing within 48 hours of landing or undergo a 14-day home quarantine.

The third category includes all other countries in the world. However, there are currently no direct flights between Kazakhstan and these countries.

Previously, the government of Kazakhstan announced on 13 August 2020 that it will begin to gradually lift the previously implemented strengthened isolation measures on 17 August.

In order to curb the spread of the epidemic, the second resumption of the implementation of the strengthened quarantine restrictions was implemented on 5 July, and the period was extended once.