All hotel quarantine bookings made prior to April 29 were cancelled and had to be rebooked.

Refunds for the Welcome Home quarantine package have all been processed and the money is expected to be reimbursed within the next 14 days, Qatar Airways has announced.

“We are pleased to announce that all of the Welcome Home bookings cancelled as a result of the new MoPH entry rules have been processed. You should receive full refunds within the next 14 days,” the airline said in a tweet.

https://twitter.com/qatarairways/status/1389218191335899148

The cancellations were a result of new travel restrictions imposed on travellers from six countries to help tackle the Covid-19 spread in Qatar while also blocking the entry of the new Indian variant.

The regulations, set by the Ministry of Public Health, states that travellers from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka need to quarantine for ten days, whether vaccinated or not.

Read also: All hotel quarantine bookings from 29 April must be rebooked: Discover Qatar

For that reason, Qatar Airways announced last week that those who have booked hotel quarantine packages from April 29 onwards will need to rebook, regardless of country of origin. However, bookings to the Mekaines quarantine facility are not affected.

Updated Entry Requirements for Qatar to Impact Existing Welcome Home Quarantine Bookings. pic.twitter.com/6qsES2z2TY

— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) April 28, 2021

Home quarantine will not be applicable for those coming back to Qatar from the aforementioned countries, and there will be no exemptions for those that have been vaccinated or recovered from the virus.

Read also: Qatar Airways ‘stands with India’ amid world’s worst Covid-19 outbreak

All passengers coming from the Asian countries will be required to undergo a mandatory Covid-19 PCR test at approved testing centres 48 hours before their flights.

Passengers will not be allowed to board the flight to Qatar without a valid negative PCR certificate, the Ministry of Public Health added.

Another Covid-19 PCR test must also be taken at the quarantine facility within one day of arrival. The test will also be repeated during and before the end of the quarantine period to ensure the person is not carrying the virus before leaving the centre.

Travellers from the six countries have the choice of quarantining for 10 days in a dedicated quarantine facility, or 14 days at the Mekaines centre.

Last month, Discover Qatar announced 43 out of the 65 quarantine hotels in Qatar are dedicated to serving travellers from the six high-risk countries.

The latest measures are a response to India’s alarming Covid-19 crisis that has seen the emergence of a new serious strain in the Asian country.

Last week, India reported a peak of 360,927 Covid-19 daily infections, and for days in a row it has continued to break its own record of highest number of daily cases.

With hospitals overwhelmed and supplies scarce, Covid-19 related deaths in India have now surpassed 200,000 and the number of active cases has reached over 20 million.

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