Nationals and residents of 15 low-risk countries and territories will not need to quarantine upon arrival.
The Monastery in Jordan’s ancient Nabatean city of Petra. (Photo: Drew Gilliam/Unsplash)
Housebound travelers aching to explore the rock-cut monuments of Petra can take heart: Jordan is now welcoming overseas visitors for the first time since March. The country’s main gateway—Queen Alia International Airport—reopened for commercial passenger traffic this morning. But according to The Jordan Times, Transport Minister Khaled Saif has said the airport will receive no more than four flights in the first week, with that number doubling to eight the week after.
Jordan was slated to welcome back foreign visitors in early August, but its reopening was delayed for a month because of a spike in coronavirus infections. The government has grouped at least 40 countries under a “traffic light” risk-assessment system, placing them in green, yellow, or red categories depending on the spread of Covid-19 within their borders. Starting today, Jordan is allowing quarantine-free travel for arrivals from 15 countries and territories classified as “green zones,” including Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand.
However, all incoming travelers will need to carry proof of a negative result for Covid-19 through a PCR test, conducted within 72 hours of departure, and then take a further test on arrival. At Queen Alia International Airport, passengers will be taken to a special holding area shortly after disembarkation from their flights; those who show any Covid-19 symptoms will be isolated and tested separately as a precaution. Returning citizens and foreign visitors alike must pay JOD 40 (about US$56) for their PCR tests via the Visit Jordan platform and wait up to three hours for the results.
Travelers arriving from yellow and red countries will have to undergo a two-week mandatory quarantine, regardless of the outcome of their PCR test at the airport. They are required to self-isolate at a designated facility for the first week, with the remaining seven days spent at home. Those from places on the red list will be required to wear a tracking bracelet while in home quarantine.
Saif added that foreign travelers must have valid health insurance, while airport employees may ask for proof that arrivals have spent the previous 14 days in the departing flight’s country of origin, given the differing levels of risk across the European Union’s Schengen Area.
The full list of low-, medium-, and high-risk countries is as follows:
| Classification | Region | Country/Territory |
| Green (No Quarantine) | Asia-Pacific | Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand |
| Europe | Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Switzerland | |
| Middle East and North Africa | Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia | |
| North America | Canada | |
| Yellow | Europe | Austria, Germany, Italy, Malta, Netherlands |
| Middle East and North Africa | Algeria, UAE | |
| Red | Europe | Belgium, France, Romania, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, Ukraine |
| Middle East and North Africa | Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Yemen | |
| North America | United States |
