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The country's government announced yesterday, 28 January, that it had extended a national COVID-19 'lockdown' until mid-February, in addition to announcing further curbs on international travel. Among other measures, to attempt to curb the spread of the virus, Portuguese nationals will be banned from travelling to other countries by air, land or sea over the next 15 days; strict checks along the 1,200-km (750-mile) border with Spain will also be put in place.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that direct flights to and from the UK have been temporarily suspended as of today, 29 January, following the UK's decision to add the country to it's travel 'red list' from which non-UK and Irish nationals, or passengers of other nationalities without UK residence, are banned from entering. The suspension comes into effect from 13.00 (GMT), and passengers booked for travel on flights due to arrive in the UK after this time should not go to Dubai International Airport, but instead contact their airline for more information.

The country's government has announced a closure of its borders to foreign travellers who do not have Norwegian citizenship or residency, with limited exemptions. All travellers to Norway (including citizens) must also now register no more than 72 hours prior their arrival, and arrivals from countries designated as 'high-risk' for COVID-19 must also undergo testing upon arrival. Additional restrictions apply to travellers arriving from the UK, South Africa, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Brazil. Eligible passengers travelling from a high-risk country must also present proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken within 24 hours before arrival. Norwegian residents are exempt from this requirement.

The country's government today, 29 January, announced that it had extended partial COVID-19 restrictions in the capital city of Manila until at least the end of February, in a big to slow a spike in infections of the virus; the measures include the limited operations of shopping malls and dine-in eateries, as well as curbs on gatherings and public transport capacity. Meanwhile, the country's government today also relaxed travel curbs on international travellers coming from more than 30 countries including the U.S and China, starting from next month.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Wales has confirmed that current COVID-19 'lockdown' measures will be extended for a further three weeks until at least 22 February. The nation entered its most restrictive 'tier four' measures - effectively a national lockdown with a stay-at-home order - a few days before Christmas amid high case rates. The Welsh government has now said that the situation is improving; however, officials have ruled that the measures need to be extended for now to allow the health service to recover.

Middle-eastern airlines Emirates and Etihad have announced the immediate suspension of UK flights from 13.00 (GMT) today, 29 January; the measures have been taken in response to an update from the UK government in which it added the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to its 'red list' of countries. This means that people who have been in or transited through the UAE (plus Burundi and Rwanda who were also added yesterday) will be denied entry to the UK, with the exception of UK and Irish nationals, and third country nationals with residence in the UK. Emirates announced it would suspend all U.K. passenger flights from 1300 (GMT) today, when the UK measures take effect. Etihad said it would only suspend flights arriving in the UK, with those departing remaining unaffected.

The country's government has said today that it may be set to resume regular international air travel, under a package of fresh relaxations in COVID-19 measures announced today, 28 January, which will go into effect from 1 February. India suspended all incoming and outgoing international flights, as well as domestic air travel, in the last week March 2020. International flights to and from India have since been resumed in a phased manner with about two dozen countries under bilateral 'air bubble' agreements. Meanwhile, the country has also fully resumed domestic air services.

The government of the Australian state of Queensland has confirmed that it will re-open its border to travellers from the Greater Sydney metropolitan area, in the state of New South Wales (NSW) from 1 February. The decision means that those arriving in Queensland from Greater Sydney, as well as Wollongong, Central Coast and the Blue Mountains will no longer be required to quarantine on arrival.

The country's government has announced that from 27 January, it will resume international passenger flights to and from Qatar, India, Vietnam and Finland - from which services were previously suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an official government release, the flights to Qatar will depart three times a week, and to India, Vietnam and Finland twice a week.

The country's government has yesterday, 26 January, announced a temporary suspension of all international flights which have originated from, or passed through, the countries of the UK, Ireland and South Africa. The Brazilian authorities have also suspended boarding permits for persons who have arrived from the UK and South Africa or were there in transit in the past 14 days. Failure to comply with the new rules will result in the deportation of the passenger to their country of origin.

The UK’s home secretary has confirmed the introduction of a new requirement for all eligible arrivals from a list of ‘high-risk’ countries to be placed in government-assigned and monitored hotel quarantine for 10 days. Although a start date has not yet been confirmed, further guidance is to be expected from the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care next week. It has though been indicated that the measures will apply to all eligible arrivals from the UK’s ‘red list’ countries, which are deemed as high-risk for COVID-19 variants.

The government of Ireland has announced a tightening of travel restrictions on passengers from South Africa and Brazil, including the suspension of visa-free travel. While South Africans can still travel to Ireland with immigration permission granted for work or study, arriving passengers will be subjected to strict COVID-19 testing and quarantine protocols. South African travellers will be required to supply a negative COVID-19 PCR test result within 72 hours of their departure; even with this proof, visitors will be required to stay in a designated quarantine facility for two weeks.

The country's government yesterday, 25 January, signed an order suspending entry to most non-U.S. citizens who have previously been in South Africa, which will be effective from 30 January. Also signed was an order extending an entry ban on nearly all non-U.S. travellers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe.

The Dubai-based airline has confirmed that its flights to South Africa will remain suspended until at least 4 February, in line with recent directives from the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which restrict entry to passengers originating in South Africa. Passengers travelling from third country destinations and holding tickets with a final destination in South Africa will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin by Emirates; affected passengers should contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking options.

The country's government has announced a two-week COVID-19 'lockdown' in 10 regions from 31 January until 14 February; the new restrictions will include a closure of all non-essential shops, a suspension of domestic air and land travel, and the extension of a suspension on international flights from Europe and Brazil in an attempt to curb new, more contagious strains of the virus.

From 1 February, passengers age 6 years or older will be required to wear medical grade masks on German airlines and at airports in Germany. The rule will apply to passengers flying the Lufthansa Group carriers, which include Lufthansa, Austrian, Brussels, Eurowings and Swiss; it will also apply to on Condor and TUI fly Deutschland flights as well as to anyone in passenger areas at German airports. Under the rule, surgical masks or N95 masks will be permitted - cloth face coverings and masks with an outlet valve will not be allowed, and passengers must supply the masks themselves.

The country's government announced today, 25 January, that all incoming passengers to the country will now be required to present a qualifying, negative COVID-19 PCR test result; this includes arrivals from the European Union (EU). The measures have been taken in an attempt to prevent a rise in new, more contagious variants of the virus. Domestically, the country currently plans to ease other restrictions and re-open secondary schools, shopping malls and gyms from 4 February.

The government of Hong Kong announced that it had lifted a COVID-19 'lockdown' early this morning, 25 January, imposed upon an area in the district of Kowloon on 23 January in response to the discovery of 13 confirmed cases of the virus in a residential area. Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities have started to take further, firm measures to curb the spread of the virus including a ban on in-house dining after 18.00 (local time), and the closing of facilities such as gyms, sports venues and beauty salons.

The country's government has confirmed that it will extend the closure of its land borders for a further week until at least 1 February to curb the spread of COVID-19. The land borders were originally closed last week in response to concerns over new variants of the virus.

Parts of central Mozambique have been flooded after Cyclone Eloise struck near the port city of Beira with wind speeds of up to 160km/h; Beira received 250mm of rain in 24 hours. Local officials and aid agencies are assessing the scale of the damage to be able to help those affected, and trying to restore power and communications, which were cut off in some areas. The cyclone has now been downgraded to a tropical storm and was forecast to be heading toward Zimbabwe and northern South Africa, which have already experienced heavy rainfall.