Laos to remove COVID-19 restrictions for vaxxed travellers

In a bid to promote tourism, the beautiful Southeast Asian nation Laos has announced to remove all COVID-19 entry restrictions for fully vaxxed tourists from Monday.

A senior official said that the number of Coronavirus infections and deaths have gone down significantly in the country. Therefore, the government has decided to reopen tourism.

In 2020, the country experienced an 80 percent drop in the number of international travellers. Then in 2021, the small nation was visited by only 4.7 million tourists from abroad. But then in January 2022, the Laos government put in COVID-19 curbs for outsiders and travellers were required to complete seven days of quarantine along with showing a negative test report to enter the country.

Also, tourists were not allowed to enter certain regions with only officially sanctioned tour groups.

Thipphakone Chanthavongsa, Deputy Minister and Deputy Head of the Prime Minister’s Office said that the government believed it’s time to develop the economy by relaxing COVID-19 curbs tourists.

According to reports, the international checkpoints of Laos will be reopened for citizens and overseas tourists, only if they are fully vaccinated. For those who are unvaccinated, a Rapid Antigen Test report issued within 48 hours of departing the origin country will be needed.

In case, a tourist tests positive for COVID-19, they shall bear all the medical expenses and treatment. Apparently, Laos has reported 663,533 Coronavirus cases and 16509 deaths till now.