Hanoi (VNA) – Myanmar has issued new health guidelines for incoming travellers through airports, which will take effect from August 1, according to the country's Ministry of Health (MOH).

Under the new guidelines, travellers are required to present proof of vaccination with an MOH-approved vaccine and a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test issued 48 hours before arrival.

Children aged under 12 traveling with fully vaccinated parents or guardians are exempted from the vaccination requirement. 

As per the health guidelines, travellers should also present a health declaration form and a COVID-19 rapid test requisition form, the ministry added. 

For foreigners, a COVID-19 medical insurance purchased from Myanmar Insurance is required to show at the airport.

At the airports' quarantine and immigration counters, each passenger’s swab will be taken for a COVID-19 RDT test, with the result given within an hour, according to the ministry. 

Travellers testing positive for COVID-19 are required to be isolated, transferred and treated at a designated hospital, a treatment centre or a hotel, it said.

Myanmar’s nationals who don’t have a proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test issued 48 hours before arrival could take relief flights. But they must fulfill the seven-day quarantine requirement, the ministry added.

State guests or foreign delegates may seek exemptions from the requirements by submitting a request letter to the related ministries at least five working days before the arrival date, it added.

Myanmar recorded 40 new COVID-19 cases on July 30, bringing the total tally to 614,083, including 19,434 deaths./.