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Covid-19 in Oman
Last update: 16/07/2021
Travel in Oman at the time of coronavirus
In April 2021, the covid-19 third wave pushed the Omani government to close the country borders to non-residents again. Therefore, it is presently not possible to enter as a tourist in Oman. Summer is not a good time for visiting so we can hope the situation will normalise before autumn.
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Since June 2020, domestic tourism has started again and hotels are open. There, the new sanitary and social distancing measures are of course applied: complete and regular disinfection of the rooms and shared areas, temperature checking, mask and gloves wearing, staff training, specific measures in the kitchen, hand sanitiser available throughout the hotel, etc.
Muscat International Airport reopened in October 2020 and received an international sanitary accreditation that same month. To limit the risks of infection, the tours offered by Oman Self Drive Tours have several advantages: you travel as a couple, family or small group of friends and you drive your own car, without driver or guide. If you want to avoid large hotels, we offer many small accommodations, from rustic to very comfortable: private house, guesthouse of a few rooms or even wild camping. Moreover, with only 15 inhabitants/km² in Oman, it is easy to respect the safety distances during our nature, adventure and hiking itineraries! |
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The state of the covid-19 pandemic in Oman
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Overall, Oman managed rather well the coronavirus epidemic crisis, with to this day 667 deaths per million people, compared with 1000 to 2000 in UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland or France (source: www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/).
Among other factors, the quality of the health-care system, the Omani government’s early implementation of the restrictions and the very gradual return to normal allowed to avoid a strict lockdown of the population and the overwhelming of the health-care system during the three first waves.
However, the Delta strain arrived in the country when the vaccination rate was still low. This led to the fourth wave of June 2021, the most virulent one in Oman so far, which caused for the first time the saturation of the hospitals.
The peak is now behind us but the government extended the curfew timings for the second half of July, which includes the Eid al Adha holidays.
In Oman, the vaccination of the people most at risk started on the 27th of December 2020 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and continues together with the Oxford/AstraZeneca one. Unfortunately, the supply was almost non-existent in spring and the mass vaccination campaign, now open to all adults, could only really start at the beginning of June. To this day, 30% of the population received at least one vaccine dose (source: https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker/).
Faced with the reluctance of a part of the population despite a broad information campaign, the Omani government announced recently that the vaccine will become mandatory.
Among other factors, the quality of the health-care system, the Omani government’s early implementation of the restrictions and the very gradual return to normal allowed to avoid a strict lockdown of the population and the overwhelming of the health-care system during the three first waves.
However, the Delta strain arrived in the country when the vaccination rate was still low. This led to the fourth wave of June 2021, the most virulent one in Oman so far, which caused for the first time the saturation of the hospitals.
The peak is now behind us but the government extended the curfew timings for the second half of July, which includes the Eid al Adha holidays.
In Oman, the vaccination of the people most at risk started on the 27th of December 2020 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and continues together with the Oxford/AstraZeneca one. Unfortunately, the supply was almost non-existent in spring and the mass vaccination campaign, now open to all adults, could only really start at the beginning of June. To this day, 30% of the population received at least one vaccine dose (source: https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker/).
Faced with the reluctance of a part of the population despite a broad information campaign, the Omani government announced recently that the vaccine will become mandatory.
