Coronavirus: Travel restrictions, border shutdowns by country (2nd part)

Oman

Oman suspended tourist visas from all countries and banned cruise ships from docking. From March 18, it enforced an entry ban on all non-Omanis, including expatriates with residency visas.

Pakistan

On March 21 the country suspended all international flights until April 4. The move came as the country had already shut all its land borders a week before.

"It has been decided that all borders will remain closed for 15 days," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told the local ARY and Dunya TV networks. "International flights will operate only out of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad airports."

Panama

On March 16, the government announced that only Panamanians and foreign residents would be allowed to enter the country. On March 22, the country banned all international flights and on March 25 Panama suspended all domestic passenger flights from both local and international airports.

Paraguay

On March 14, Paraguay suspended flights from Europe until at least March 26. It has also restricted traffic across Friendship Bridge, which connects the country with Brazil, to authorised cargo traffic.

Peru

After declaring a state of emergency on March 15, Peru announced it would shut down its border for at least 15 days starting on March 16. The measure includes the cancellation of all commercial international flights into the country.

Philippines

A month-long lockdown on Luzon - the largest Philippine island home to nearly 60 million people - is in place, while domestic and international flights have been cancelled until April 14.

Poland

On March 13, Poland said it would ban foreigners from entering the country from March 15 and impose a 14-day quarantine on its citizens returning home. Those with a residence permit in Poland would also be allowed to enter, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

No international inbound flights or trains would be allowed from March 15, except for some charter flights bringing Poles back from holidays.

Portugal

Flights from outside the EU are suspended, excluding the UK, USA, Canada, Venezuela, South Africa and Portuguese speaking countries.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said that travel restrictions on the land border with Spain should guarantee that free movement of goods continues and protect the rights of workers, but that "there must be a restriction (on travelling) for the purposes of tourism or leisure".

Qatar

On March 15, Qatar said it would ban inbound flights, except for cargo and transit flights, starting from March 18. The entry ban does not apply to Qatari citizens.

Romania

Romania's government barred most foreigners from entering the country on March 21 and tightened restrictions on movement inside the country.

"Foreign citizens and stateless persons are banned from entering Romania through all border points," Interior Minister Marcel Vela said during a national address.

Exceptions would be allowed for those transiting through Romania using corridors to be agreed with neighbouring states, he added.

Russia

The Russian government has ordered the civil aviation authority to suspend all regular and charter flights to and from Russia from March 27.

On March 14, the Russian government said it was closing the country's land border with Poland and Norway for foreigners.

Citizens of neighbouring Belarus and official delegations were exempt.

Rwanda

Rwanda on March 22 closed its borders completely, except for goods and cargo and returning citizens, authorities said.

Anyone arriving in Rwanda will be subject to a 14-day quarantine at designated locations.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

The Caribbean country asked anyone who has travelled to China, Italy, Iran, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the UK, France, Germany and Spain to not visit, the Miami Herald reported. If an individual does arrive from one of these countries, he or she must go through a 14-day quarantine.

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia imposed restrictions on travellers arriving from France, Germany, Spain, the UK, China, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Singapore, according to local media.

Saudi Arabia

On March 15, Saudi Arabia suspended all international flights for two weeks.

Serbia

On March 19, Serbia closed its airport and said it would shut all road and rail borders other than to freight traffic, as well as halt all internal passenger transport, in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Passenger flights were banned from Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport for the first time since 1999 when flights were halted during the NATO bombing of the country and the war in Kosovo.

The airport remains open only for humanitarian flights and planes with special permits. Serbia had already barred flights to and from the airport in the southern city of Nis.

Singapore

As of March 15, "all new visitors with recent travel history to France, Germany, Italy and Spain within the last 14 days will not be allowed entry into or transit through Singapore", according to officials.

Singapore residents and pass-holders who have been to those countries in the past 14 days will be issued with a "Stay-Home Notice", requiring them to quarantine for two weeks.

On March 22, the city-state barred all short-term visitors from entering Singapore, saying that from 11:59pm on Monday, the only non-nationals allowed in would be work permit holders in "essential sectors" such as healthcare.

Slovenia

Slovenia on March 11 said it was closing some border crossings with Italy and began making health checks at those remaining open. Passenger train transport between the two countries was also cancelled.

Somalia

Somalia has banned all international flights.

South Africa

South Africa barred entry to foreign travellers arriving from or transiting through high-risk countries, including Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, the US, the UK and China.

South Africans were also advised to cancel or postpone all non-essential foreign travel.

South African Airways announced on March 20 it would suspend international flights until May 31.

South Korea

On March 17, South Korea said it would tighten border checks for all overseas arrivals. The government had already imposed strict border checks on visitors from China, Italy and Iran, requiring them to sign up by a smartphone application to track whether they have any symptoms, such as fever.

The government also issued a "special travel advisory" on March 23, calling on its citizens to cancel or postpone their trips abroad over the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Foreign Ministry said that the special travel advisory applies to all countries except those that are already under higher alerts that call for the withdrawal of citizens or are subject to a travel ban.

South Korea has also enforced a two-week quarantine period and virus tests for all long-term arrivals from Europe, regardless of symptoms, to contain imported virus cases.

Spain

Spain will restrict entry for most foreigners at air and sea ports for the next 30 days to help stem its coronavirus epidemic, the Interior Ministry said on March 22. The ban - starting at midnight - comes a few days after Spain imposed restrictions on its land borders with France and Portugal, after European Union leaders agreed to close the bloc's external borders for 30 days.

Spanish nationals, foreigners living in Spain, air crew, cargo and health workers and diplomats will be allowed to travel as normal, the ministry said in its statement.

On March 16, the Spanish government announced the closing of its land borders, allowing only citizens, residents and others with special circumstances to enter the country.

Direct flights from Italy to Spain have been banned until March 25.

Sri Lanka

On March 22, the Sri Lankan government imposed an indefinite ban on all passenger flights and ships.

A government statement said all passenger flights and ships will not be allowed to enter the Indian Ocean island until the situation returns to normalcy.

Sudan

On March 16, Sudan closed all airports, ports and land crossings. Only humanitarian, commercial and technical support shipments were excluded from the restrictions.

Suriname
Suriname closed all of its land and sea borders on March 14.

Sweden

The government has temporarily stopped non-essential travel to Sweden from countries outside the EEA and Switzerland. The decision took effect on 19 March and will initially apply for 30 days.

Tajikistan

All flights are suspended starting from 20 March. Travellers who have been in or transited through, China, Iran, Italy or South Korea in the 14 days before arrival are banned from entering the country.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago closed its border to foreigners for 14 days beginning on March 17, local media reported. Nationals will be allowed to enter the country but will be subjected to quarantine.

Tunisia

Tunisia, which declared 24 cases of the virus, closed mosques, cafes and markets, closed its land borders and suspended international flights on March 16.

Tunisia also imposed a curfew from 6pm to 6am starting on March 18, Tunisia's president said, tightening the measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus.

Turkey

Turkey's land borders with Greece and Bulgaria have been closed to the entry and exit of passengers as a measure against the coronavirus outbreak, state broadcaster TRT Haber said on Wednesday.

A TRT reporter said the gates were still open for logistics.

The government is suspending flights to and from several countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, China, South Korea, Iran and Iraq.

The government further expanded on March 21, its flight suspensions to another 46 countries. The decision brought the total number to 68 countries with which Turkey halted its flights.

The flight ban includes Angola, Austria, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Czechia, China, Colombia, Djibouti, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Georgia, Hungary, India, Italy, Iraq, Iran, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Montenegro, Mongolia, Morocco, Moldova, Mauritania, Nepal, Niger, Norway, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Oman, the Philippines, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Taiwan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, the UK and Ukraine.

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan, which has so far reported no coronavirus cases, has suspended all international flights. Authorities have made no official announcements on the scope and duration of the new restrictions.

Domestically, people travelling to and from Ashgabat were told by officials at checkpoints installed around the capital that non-essential travel was banned, according to Reuters.

Uganda

On March 18, Uganda restricted travel to some of the affected countries such as Italy.

Uganda suspended all passenger planes in and out of the country starting from March 22. Cargo planes will be exempted.

Ukraine

Ukraine said on March 13 that foreign nationals would be barred from entering the country.

United Arab Emirates

The government indefinitely suspended flights to and from Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Iraq from March 17. On March 23, Dubai carrier Emirates announced the suspension of all passenger flights. Hours later, Abu Dhabi's Etihad announced the suspension of all passenger services, except for some returning UAE nationals and diplomats to Abu Dhabi.

United Kingdom

The government on March 17 advised citizens "against all non-essential travel worldwide", initially for a period of 30 days.

United States

The US has banned the entry of all foreign nationals who have travelled to China, Iran, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK or Ireland 14 days before their arrival.

US citizens or permanent residents who have visited a high-risk area must fly into one of the 13 international airports with enhanced entry screening capabilities.

On March 18, President Donald Trump announced that the US would close its northern border with Canada "by mutual consent" to non-essential traffic such as tourists and other visitors.

On March 20, the US and Mexico agreed to restrict non-essential travel over their shared border for 30 days, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, a decision that will be revisited after the period.

Uruguay

On March 15, Uruguay announced it would ban all flights from Europe starting from March 20. Earlier, it had announced that passengers from China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Iran, Spain, Italy, France and Germany had to go through a 14-day quarantine.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has barred entry for all foreigners.

On March 22, the country announced it was closing its borders for its citizens, preventing them from leaving from March 23 onwards.

Venezuela

On March 12, Venezuela announced it would cancel all flights from Europe, Colombia, Panama and the Dominican Republic for at least 30 days. The country has also announced a nationwide quarantine.

Vietnam

Vietnam announced on March 21 that it will suspend all inbound international flights to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country, without giving a time frame.

The government also announced it would bar entry for all foreigners from March 22, except for special cases.

Yemen

On March 14, the internationally-recognised government of war-torn Yemen said it would suspend all flights to and from airports under its control for two weeks starting on March 18.

A statement from the office of Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed said the move exempted flights for humanitarian purposes. The key airports his government controls are in Aden, Sayoun and Mukalla.

Zimbabwe

On March 24 the President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that all borders will closed to human traffic except for returning residents.