Abu Dhabi scraps quarantine for visitors from 31 countries
The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi ( DCT Abu Dhabi) has issued the updated list of “Green List” destinations.
Vaccinated travellers arriving from these destinations will be exempt from mandatory quarantine measures ater landing in Abu Dhabi and will be required to undergo PCR testing upon arrival at Abu Dhabi International Airport, as well as another PCR test on day 6.
The emirate has exempted 31 countries from mandatory quarantine.
Unvaccinated travellers arriving from these countries are exempt from mandatory quarantine but will also need to undergo PCR testing on arrival, as well as two further PCR tests on day 6 and 12.
Countries, regions, and territories included within the “Green List” will be regularly updated based on international developments. Inclusion in the list is subject to strict criteria of health and safety to ensure the well-being of the UAE community. The list also only applies to countries travellers are arriving from, rather than citizenship.
The list, effective from 31 July 2021, includes Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong (SAR), Hungary, Israel, Italy, Maldives, Mauritius, Moldova, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan — Province of China, Ukraine, and USA.
Abu Dhabi will also continue to issue updates on the list and overall travel status in the coming months.
On the other hand, Emirates Airline confirmed on Wednesday that the suspension of flights from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka has been extended at least till August 7, 2021.
The airline took to the decision due to spike in coronavirus cases in Asian countries and the emergence of Delta variant.
Etihad Airways has stopped flights from India to the UAE till further notice, a spokesperson of the airline said. The move came ater the UAE government banned flights from India amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Following the latest UAE government directives, passenger travel from India to the UAE and Etihad’s network has been suspended until further notice. Etihad will not be permited to carry passengers from India.
However, UAE nationals, diplomatic missions, official delegations and Golden residence holders are exempted from the UAE entry restriction. These passengers will be subject to acceptance and quarantine conditions,” the spokesperson said.
In the UAE, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) has conducted 305,880 additional COVID-19 tests and detected 1,527 new coronavirus cases. The new cases brings the total infections in the country to 676,251.
Total number of deaths due to COVID-19 complications rose to 1,934 ater Ministry reported 5 new deaths on Wednesday.
The Ministry also revealed that 1,495 individuals had fully recovered from virus, which brings the the total number of recoveries in the country to 653,675.
The ministry has announced that 57,730 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were given in the past 24 hours.
The total number of doses provided up to today stands at 16,645,208 with a rate of vaccine distribution of 168.30 doses per 100 people.
Britain announced Wednesday it would begin donating millions of coronavirus vaccine doses around the world, including Commonwealth countries, following its pledge to provide 100 million jabs globally by next June.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the rollout of an initial nine million inoculations from Friday would go to Kenya, Jamaica and several Asian nations.
“They will go to countries, vulnerable places like Laos and Cambodia, partners like Indonesia, Malaysia (and) a range of Commonwealth countries from Kenya to Jamaica,” he said.
In Japan, Tokyo reported 3,177 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, seting an all-time high and exceeding 3,000 for the first time days ater the start of the Olympics.
The new cases exceeded the earlier record of 2,848 set the previous day and brought the total for the Japanese capital to 206,745 since the pandemic began early last year.
Emirates flights from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to UAE suspended till Aug.7; 1,527 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths reported in UAE; UK to begin vaccine rollout to Commonwealth, Asian nations.