Omicron- a new variant of corona virus has forced countries around the world to update their travel protocols. Just as it seems that the threat of the Covid-19 has lessened by far than what it used to be, there is a new variant of the virus,'Omicron'. It was first found in African countries and now has spread in Europe and Asian countries as well.
Omnicron detected in two
Nepal has recently reported the two initial cases of Omicron detected on a foreigner and a Nepali. There has not been any new reports of virus since then. Apart from that, Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has been reporting acouple hindreds of daily new cases of corona virus. However, with the new variant of the virus on board, Nepal has made a few changes in the travel update.
Travel advisory from Immigration Department of Nepal
As per the new notice published by the immigration department, the visitors arriving to Nepal from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Iswatini, Mozambique, Malawi and Hong kong as first point of embarkation or transits or with a travel history to such destinations were restricted from 2nd December midnight.
The notice published on 2nd December, 2021 also mentions that MoHP will further identify the countries with the risk of Omnicron and the travel advisory will be later published accordingly. Apart from that, visitors from other countries except mentioned will have to follow the same protocols as mentioned on the previous travel advisory released on 24th September.
Source: Immigration Department, Nepal
While everyone seems to be concerned about the new variant of the corona virus, things are pretty much normal in Nepal, well at least in Kathmandu. Traveling is open throughout the nation, however, travelers might need to go through the precautionary measures when traveling to the local areas as per the guidelines of the communities. So gather the latest information about your travel destination before you pay your visit.
Hotels, Airlines, Travel companies, Government offices and tourism activities are smoothly operating, so there might not be a huge issue regarding travel, food and accommodation for the travelers. Meanwhile, MoHP has been constantly alerting about the safety measures that are to be strictly followed while traveling in public places.
Tourist arrival update for the month of November
As of now, Nepal is open to foreigners for all sorts of tourism activities. The number of tourist arrival is slowly increasing in the Himalayan nation. More than 26000 tourists arrived in Nepal by air in the month of November which is 3000 more than the previous month of October (23284).
The highest number of tourist arrival are from Asia (SAARC countries) (46.49%) followed up by Europe (21.88%) and then Americas (16.30%). India with more than 10000 tourists tops the list followed by USA and UK.
Asia (SAARC): 12149
Asia(others): 970
Europe: 5718
Americas: 4260
Oceania: 634
Others: 2404
Now with Omicron has been detected, there might be few changes in the travel protocols for the travelers to and from Nepal but traveling is not restricted except for few. So if you have plans on traveling to Nepal anytime soon, make sure you gather the latest travel information and updates for next few weeks. Stay safe and enjoy your trip.
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