The Minister of Public Health Dr. Hamad Hasan noted that all the procedures inside the airport were well organized and carried out as planned. The Ministry of Public Health has exerted tremendous efforts in collaboration with all the other ministries, and it was a model of which we must be proud.

The returnees were divided by a team of the Ministry into four groups: those who tested for COVID-19 had green bracelets and were seated in a designated section. The passengers with yellow bracelets weren’t tested and were seated in another section, while the returnees with blue bracelets are those who have chronic illness and do not show any symptoms, and the red bracelets were for those who might have symptoms and were seated in an designated section. Upon arrival to the airport, passengers with the green bracelets can immediately leave the airport after being examined by the medical workers. The other passengers have to wait at the airport and fill out a form before they are transported by buses to designated hotels. Six hours later, the results of the tests carried out at airport will be released. Those who test negative are permitted to go home, but they are urged to self-isolate for 14 days. While those who test positive will be transferred to Rafik Hariri University Hospital or other university hospitals that are ready to admit coronavirus cases.

“The Ministry of Public Health will follow up on all the forms for 14 days, and teams from the ministry will check also the application that has become available on social media,” Hasan added.