Oman has added Ghana to a list of 14 countries whose residents are barred from applying to enter the country till further notice.

The ban which takes effect from 9 am on Friday (May 7, 2021), affects countries including; South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, India and the United Kingdom, and it is meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Other countries affected by the ban are; Sudan, Lebanon, Tanzania, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

It also restricts incoming travellers if they visited the countries on the list within 14 days from applying to enter the Sultanate till further notice.

In addition, Oman’s Supreme Committee also added incoming travellers from Egypt and the Philippines to the list of travel-ban countries, as well as travellers from any other country if they visited these two countries (Egypt, the Philippines) within 14 days from applying to enter the Sultanate.

The decision exempts incoming travellers who are Omani citizens, diplomats, health workers and their families. These exempted segments will undergo Oman’s prescribed COVID-19 prevention protocols upon arriving in the Sultanate.

Interestingly, Oman has recorded over 100,000 more COVID-19 cases than Ghana since the start of the pandemic.

Statistics from the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 platform indicate that Oman has recorded 197,802 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 with 2,062 deaths and 179,175 recoveries from the illness while Ghana as of April 25, 2021, had recorded 92,513 confirmed cases out of which there has been 90,151 recoveries and 779 deaths.

The Minority in Parliament has urged the Ghanaian government to place a temporary ban on flights from COVID-19 hotspot countries until the high record of cases of infection in those areas reduces.

The Supreme Committee’s statement said: “To protect individuals of society from more exposure to this disease and, to maintain the capability of the health system and enable health workers to keep the situation under control, the Supreme Committee took the following decisions:

“First: To extend, till further notice, the ban on entry to the Sultanate on incoming travellers from Sudan, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as travellers from any other country if they visited the above-mentioned countries within 14 days from applying to enter the Sultanate.

“Second: To add incoming travellers from Egypt and the Philippines to the above-mentioned list of travel-ban countries, as well as travellers from any other country if they visited these two countries (Egypt, the Philippines) within 14 days from applying to enter the Sultanate. The ban takes effect from 9 am on Friday, 7 May 2021, till further notice”.