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The government of the devolved UK administration of Scotland has confirmed that current COVID-19 restrictions are to be extended until at least the middle of February, with schools remaining closed to the majority of pupils; the measures include a legally-enforceable stay-at-home order. All non-essential shops, pubs, cafes, bars, gyms and hairdressers are closed and travel restrictions prevent anyone leaving their local authority area, with limited exceptions. The situation will be reviewed on 2 February.

The country's government has imposed a 15-day COVID-19 lockdown on the capital city of Kigali, as Rwanda battles a second wave of cases of the virus; all movement outside homes in the capital will now require an approved permit from the police, except for essential service providers. Travel between Kigali and other provinces and districts will not be permitted, except for essential services and tourism, and tourists must have COVID-19-negative certificates. The government has also increased the hours of a nationwide night-time curfew which is now amended to between 18.00 and 04.00 daily.

The country's government announced yesterday, 18 January, that it will impose an extended nightly curfew in the capital city of Bogota for almost two weeks, while the whole city will also enter another full quarantine measure this coming weekend. The nightly curfew from 20.00 to 04.00 (local time) will now be in force until at least 28 January.

The governments of the Australian state of Tasmania, as well as the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) have confirmed that they are further easing COVID-19 restrictions for domestic interstate travel. Among these relaxations, the Tasmanian premier announced yesterday , 18 January, that Greater Brisbane is now downgraded to be classified as ‘medium risk’, meaning travellers from the area are allowed to visit Tasmania. The Greater Sydney area and Wollongong in New South Wales however will remain unchanged as 'medium risk' for the time being. The Tasmanian government has also lifted restrictions for hotspots in the state of Victoria, meaning all travellers from the state are now classified as 'low risk' and can enter Tasmania without having to quarantine. From 22 January, a public health directive for face masks to be worn on commercial flights in Tasmanian airspace, both from interstate and within the state, and at airports, will come into force.

The country's government has today, 19 January, agreed with state leaders nationally to extend Germany's COVID-19 lockdown restrictions until at least 14 February to counter the spread of the virus. They also agreed to mandate a medical mask requirement for passengers on public transport.

The country's government confirmed yesterday, 18 January, that it had suspended entry to passengers from Australia, Brazil, Ireland and New Zealand following the discovery of its first imported case of a new variant of COVID-19 first detected in the UK; these measures are in addition to the suspension of entry to UK passengers which was imposed in late December. On 23 December, the country also imposed a nationwide four-week curfew from 21.00 to 06.00 (local time) daily to curb the spread of the virus.

The New Zealand Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands. The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 23.59 (NZT) on 25 January, to minimise disruption for those passengers with imminent departures. Other countries will be considered for exclusion if their situations change.

The country's government has today, 19 January, announced that it will extend COVID-19 lockdown restrictions across most of the country in order to curb further increases in infections. Last week capital city Kuala Lumpur and six states went into a two-week lockdown meaning that essential sectors including manufacturing, plantations and construction were allowed to stay open, but a nationwide travel ban was implemented; the lockdown will now also be imposed on six other states from 22 January for two weeks.

The country's government has announced that it is extending Austria's national COVID-19 'lockdown' until 7 February in a drive to push down still-high infection figures, as officials worry about the possible impact of new COVID-19 variants. The country's chancellor has said that some local measures will also be tightened as a result of the more infectious variants that were first detected in Britain and South Africa, and that people will now be asked to stay two metres apart instead of one metre. Beginning on Jan. 25, they will also be required to wear full protective masks on public transport and in shops, rather than just fabric face coverings.

The country's government has announced that all UK 'travel corridors' that previously allowed arrivals from some countries to avoid having to self-isolate on arrival, have now been temporarily suspended from today, 18 January; all passengers from countries not subject to stricter measures must now self-isolate for 10 days, unless they qualify for a 'test to release' scheme, which could shorten this to as little as five days with a negative COVID-19 test result. Passengers arriving in the UK, whether by boat, train or air, also now have to show proof of a qualifying, negative COVID-19 test result to be allowed entry. The test must be taken in the 72 hours before travelling and anyone arriving without one faces a fine of up to £500. The UK government has said the travel corridor suspension will be in force until at least 15 February.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health has announced that all passengers arriving in Singapore must take a COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test when they land in the country. The decision to implement the rule comes following the resurgence of COVID-19 around the world, and has been put into place to prevent importation and local transmission of the new, more-transmissible virus strains that have been discovered. The rule not only applies to foreign passengers, but to Singaporeans and permanent residents of the country, and is to come into effect from 23.59 (local time) on 24 January.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Wales has confirmed that from 04.00 (local time) on 18 January, it will introduce a pre-departure COVID-19 testing requirement for all areas from outside the Common Travel Area of the rest of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The measures will effectively mirror those imposed in Scotland and England which require arrivals by air, sea and rail to return a negative COVID-19 test result up to 72 hours prior to departure. England had been due to introduce like measures on Friday, but the rollout was later pushed back to Monday. Northern Ireland is preparing to enact similar rules. Like England, the Welsh pre-departure testing regime will operate alongside quarantine, rather than replacing it.

The country's government has updated its latest COVID-19 entry requirements, stipulating that all travellers arriving from outside the European Union are required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test, undertaken within 72 hours prior to departure, to gain entry into France. Upon entry into France, those travellers are required to self-isolate for seven days and then undergo a second COVID-19 PCR test at the end of this period; self-isolation can take place at home. A nationwide curfew due to COVID-19 is in force from 18.00 to 06.00 (local time), with limited exceptions to the curfew permitted.

The tropical cyclone is predicted to make landfall in the area around Cardwell, in Australia's state of Queensland, on the evening of 18 January; a warning has been issued for an area covering from Port Douglas to Lucinda. The cyclone is expected to continue south-west and to cross the coast between Innisfail and Lucinda. Destructive wind gusts up to 150 kilometres per hour are predicted along with heavy rainfall, abnormally high tides and flash flooding.

The national government of Australia has announced that it has now revoked a COVID-19 'hotspot' declaration for the Greater Brisbane area, after the state of Queensland recorded no new cases of the virus via community transmission. In Greater Brisbane there is still however a mask mandate in place and restrictions on venues, events and gatherings. Residents and visitors must wear a mask indoors at shopping centres, supermarkets, cinemas, on public transport, in taxis and rideshares, at the library and places of worship.

The government of the Australian state of Victoria have announced that residents and visitors from Brisbane, in the further north state of Queensland, will be able to now travel to Victoria without needing to apply for an exemption under a relaxation of the states' COVID-19 border restrictions. From 18.00 AEDT on 16 January, the local government areas of Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Redlands, Logan and Ipswich have been downgraded from a 'red zone' to an 'orange zone'. People travelling from 'orange zones' can apply online for a permit to enter Victoria. Arrivals need to get tested for COVID-19 within three days of arriving in Victoria, but only need to isolate until they get a negative result.

The government of the devolved UK nation of Scotland has announced that from today, 16 January, it will be tightening local COVID-19 restrictions around takeaway and click-and-collect services to further curb increases of cases of the virus. Only shops selling essential items - such as clothing, footwear, baby equipment, homeware and books - will be allowed to offer click and collect. Collections must also be outdoors, with appointments staggered to avoid queuing; takeaways can no longer allow customers indoors, and must instead operate from a hatch or doorway.

The country's government has announced that most passengers from South American countries are no longer permitted to enter the UK, amid fears over a new COVOD-19 variant first identified in Brazil. The measure, which also applies to Portugal and Cape Verde, came into force at 04.00 (GMT) on 15 January. Included among the suspension are people who have travelled from, or through, the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela in the last 10 days. It also applies to Portugal because of its strong links to Brazil and the former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde off the coast of west Africa, as well as Panama in central America. Exemptions apply to UK and Irish nationals, as well as third-country nationals with residence in the UK.

The country's government on 12 January removed its COVID-19 PCR testing and/or quarantine requirements for tourist arrivals from high-risk nations and stopped the use of their ‘country lists’, which dictated which nations could visit under those requirements. Since the relaxation of the measures, foreign national arrivals from all nations are treated equally and not subjected to entry restrictions when travelling to Montenegro. Locally, the wearing of masks is required in all public spaces, both indoor and outdoor; a curfew is also in effect daily from 22.00 to 05.00 (local time).

The country's government has announced that it has extended its travel ban for arrivals from 30 countries until at least 31 January, due to the discovery of new COVID-19 variants. Under this measure, passengers from the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain, the United States, Portugal, India, Finland, Norway, Jordan, Brazil, Austria, Pakistan, Jamaica, Luxembourg, and Oman are prohibited from entering the Philippines.