COVID-19: US releases Level 3 travel health notice for Pakistan

The United States on Tuesday released a Level 3 Travel Advisory for Pakistan, asking Americans to reconsider travelling to the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Pakistan due to COVID-19,” reported the latest travel advisory issued by the US State Department.

The advisory noted that Pakistan has “lifted stay-at-home orders and allowed the resumption of intercity domestic travel and mass transit services in most cities”.

The US State Department also advised its citizens, as it has in the past as well, not to travel to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan due to “terrorism and kidnapping”. It also advised its citizens to not visit the “immediate vicinity” of the Line of Control between Pakistan and India “due to terrorism and the potential for armed conflict”.

However, the advisory noted that Pakistan’s security environment has improved since 2014 after the security forces undertook concerted counter-terrorism and counter militant operations. It also acknowledged that there were greater security resources and infrastructure in the major cities, especially Islamabad, and security forces in these areas are “more readily able to respond to an emergency compared to other areas of the country”.

Last month, the US Embassy in Islamabad had issued a fresh ‘Travel Alert’ for its citizens in the country asking them to monitor local media for updates before travelling on Pakistani airlines and to get registered in a travel safety programme.