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Turkey to require negative COVID-19 test for travel

Published:Friday | December 25, 2020 | 5:06 PM
In this Monday, December 21, 2020 file photo, under the watchful eye of Professor Dr Iftahar Koksal (left) nurse Arzu Yildirim (centre) administers a dose of the CoronaVac vaccine, made by Sinovac, currently on phase III clinical trials at Acibadem Hospital in Istanbul. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel, File)

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey is enacting precautions for international travel, requiring a negative COVID-19 test for passengers to enter the country starting Monday until March.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted a statement Friday saying travellers would need to present a negative result from a PCR test taken in a 72-hour window to board international flights en route to Turkey.

Previously, tests weren’t required for travel to Turkey.

The rule would apply to all land and sea arrivals starting Wednesday.

Travellers would be quarantined at their destination if they don’t have test results.

Travellers arriving from the United Kingdom, Denmark, and South Africa in the past 10 days would have to show a negative test result and go into mandatory quarantine for at least seven days until a second test.

Turkey has among the worst infection rates in the world, with a weekly average of more than 20,000 confirmed daily infections.

The total death toll is 19,371, according to official statistics.

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