JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has told airlines operating in the Kingdom that boarding passes must only be issued to passengers whose health status, as recorded by the Tawakkalna application, is “immune” or “not been confirmed with infection.”

Airlines and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority were instructed to work quickly and as a matter of urgency to ensure that passenger data is linked to the application. GACA said that Tawakkalna status alone will be sufficient proof that a person is not suffering from coronavirus infection, and there will be no need for supporting documents.

The authority also instructed that a mechanism must be provided to contact by text message those passengers whose health status does not meet requirements and inform them that their bookings have to be canceled. It stressed the importance of protecting the rights of travelers when canceling their bookings.

Meanwhile Saudis and expatriates in the Kingdom continue to receive coronavirus vaccines, with 7,868,232 people inoculated so far, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

The ministry on Friday reported 1,098 new coronavirus cases, meaning that 410,191 people in the Kingdom have contracted the disease since the beginning of the pandemic. There are 9,660 active cases, and 1,205 patients are in critical condition.

Of the new cases, 454 are in the Riyadh region, 244 in the Makkah region, 171 in the Eastern Province and 42 in the Madinah region.

Meanwhile, an additional 1,205 patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries to 393,653.

Nine more deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, raising the death toll to 6,878.

Health authorities have so far conducted 16,477,359 PCR tests, including 63,320 in the previous 24 hours.

Saudi health clinics set up by the ministry as testing hubs or treatment centers have helped hundreds of thousands of people around the Kingdom.
Among those testing hubs are Taakad (make sure) centers and Tetamman (rest assured) clinics.

Taakad centers provide COVID-19 testing for those who show no, or mild, symptoms or believe they have come into contact with an infected individual, while Tetamman clinics offer treatment and advice to those with virus symptoms, such as fever, loss of taste and smell, and breathing difficulties.

Appointments for either service can be made through the ministry’s Sehhaty app.