The European Union has agreed to add Lebanon to its safe-travel list, alongside seven other countries.
EU governments decided to white-list Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, the United States, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, and Lebanon, officials and diplomats told AFP on Wednesday.
Pandemic-induced travel restrictions imposed by the EU will reportedly be lifted for these countries in the coming days.
Nonetheless, EU nations can set specific requirements for travelers before allowing their entry, including mandatory coronavirus (COVID-19) tests and quarantine periods.
External EU borders have been closed for non-essential travel since March 2020.
New exemptions have been gradually introduced as vaccination campaigns against the disease progress around the world.
Countries can be included in the exemption if they have registered fewer than 75 infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days.
Lebanon has been recording a steady decline in daily infection cases, registering a total of 45 cases on Monday for the first time in months.
The decline in infections comes as the country boosts its efforts to achieve collective immunity against COVID-19, including by holding weekly vaccination marathons, the latest of which was the Pfizer Marathon on Sunday.
Lebanon recently surpassed the 1-million mark in the total number of vaccine doses administered.
To date, a total of 1,058,472 shots have been administered in Lebanon, and 341,907 people have received both vaccine shots and completed their vaccination.
We have a dedicated coronavirus section where you can find the latest news/updates about the pandemic in Lebanon, inform yourself with WHO-verified resources, and track the number of cases in Lebanon in real-time. Click here.
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