The Cabinet of Kuwait Lifts Most of COVID-19 Restrictions

Upon the weekly meeting of Monday 14 February 2022, the Cabinet of Kuwait has decided to eliminate most of COVID-19 restrictions.

• Social distancing norms in mosques, public transport vehicles, banquet halls, cinemas, theaters, etc., will no longer be in effect.
• Social events like weddings, conferences, training courses, funerals, etc., are unbanned
• Unvaccinated people can travel abroad and visit malls and shopping centers, and unvaccinated students under 16 years old can attend school in person without having to take a PCR test every week.
• Civil servants will be able to go back to their offices at full capacity on 13 March 2022.

His Highness the Premier Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, authorized these changes and others that ease international travel.

• The following COVID-19 restrictions have been removed for triple-vaccinated travelers with Kuwaiti-authorized vaccines: home quarantine requirement, pre-departure COVID-19 diagnostic tests, post-arrival COVID-19 diagnostic tests.
• Double vaccinated travelers will not have to take a PCR test, but they will have to self-isolate for 7 days unless they take a PCR test at any time upon arrival in Kuwait. Of course, the test results must be negative for the traveler to be able to end travel quarantine earlier.
• Unvaccinated travelers must take a PCR test 72 hours before arrival in Kuwait, quarantine for 7 days, and then re-take the PCR test. Only unvaccinated travelers under 16 years old are exempt from these rules.

These decisions take place in a moment in which there is a high number of vaccinated people in Kuwait and the sanitary situation in the country seems to be improving after the last Omicron wave.

The new measures were announced by Foreign Minister and Minister of Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah right after the meeting. They will come into effect on Sunday 20 February 2022, except for the one that affects civil servants.

New definition for ‘fully vaccinated’

In the same meeting, the Cabinet of Kuwait determined the characteristics of the following categories:

• Fully vaccinated people are those who are triple vaccinated, took the second shot less than 9 months ago, and/or recovered from a COVID-19 infection in the last 3 months.
• Not fully vaccinated people are those who took the second shot more than 9 months ago.
• Unvaccinated people are those who didn’t take the second shot. This means that people who have only one dose of a government-approved vaccine will still be considered unvaccinated.