Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry has confirmed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has temporarily suspended the issuance of visit visas to 12 countries, including Pakistan.
Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry said in his statement that the decision was taken by the UAE administration in view of the possible second wave of corona virus.
However, he said that we are awaiting official confirmation from the relevant UAE authorities in this regard.
He clarified in his statement that the suspension would not apply to visas already issued.
It was not immediately clear how many visa categories the suspension would apply to.
There are several types of visas in the UAE, including business, tourism, transit and student.
It may be recalled that the Emirates Emirates had temporarily suspended passenger service from Pakistan till July 3 after the rapid corona cases came to light in Pakistan in June.
The decision was taken after 30 Pakistani nationals traveling to Hong Kong on an Emirates flight tested positive for corona. The airline later resumed flights in July.
In August, Kuwaiti aviation banned commercial flights to 31 countries, including Pakistan, declaring the epidemic "extremely dangerous."
Corona cases have been on the rise in Pakistan since mid-October and the administration has called it the second wave of the epidemic.
In the last six days, more than 2,000 cases have been reported daily in Pakistan and officials have warned that the positive test rate has increased in major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Hyderabad.
On Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan called on the people to play a role as a "nation" to stop the spread of the virus.
Talking to media, he announced a ban on government rallies and asked the opposition not to hold rallies, as well as urging the public to wear masks and distance themselves from society.
