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The country's government announced yesterday, 11 January, that it has extended its ban on foreign arrivals for another 14 days in a bid to control the transmission of COVID-19; ministers have said the reason for the stricter measures against international visitors, which were imposed on 1 January, is to try to keep out the new COVID-19 variant first detected in the UK.

The country's government announced yesterday, 11 January, that it will tighten it's COVID-19 lockdown measures in the coming days to combat whelming curbs in recent infections. From 14 January a new 24 hour curfew will be in place until 05.00 (local time) on 25 January. The new measures also include stricter procedures at the airport for passengers arriving from Cairo, Addis Ababa, Baghdad, Istanbul and Adana; those arriving from these destinations will have to quarantine for seven days at a hotel, while all others will quarantine for up to 72 hours.

The government of Canada has confirmed that the US-Canada land border closure has once again been extended for a tenth time, for at least another 30 days until 21 February. The extension means the land border will remain closed for all non-essential traffic, including US tourists wanting to enter Canada.

The country's government has announced that from midnight on 15 January, passengers arriving in Austria must register online for a Pre-Travel-Clearance (PTC). The PTC application form will be available at www.oesterreich.gv.at in English and German. Daily commuters, travelers in transit and people who have to travel to Austria for unforeseen family reasons are exempted from the online registration. For more information please visit the website of the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection.

The UK government has published a written statement confirming that a requirement for all international arrivals to England, including UK nationals, to present a qualifying negative COVID-19 test result obtained a maximum of 72 hours prior to departure, will begin from 04.00 (GMT) on Friday 15 January 2021. There are a limited number of permanent and temporary exemptions by point of departure, including an indefinite exemption to passengers from St. Helena, Ascension Island and the Falklands. In addition, arrivals from three countries will have a temporary exemption until 21 January due to a lack of testing infrastructure: Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia and Barbados.

The country's government announced yesterday, 11 January, a nationwide travel ban and 14-day COVID-19 lockdown in the capital and five other states, as the country combats a surge in infections. The lockdown, will takes effect at midnight on 13 January, will prevent all social activities and interstate domestic travel.

The country's government has confirmed that passengers arriving in the U.S.from international destinations will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flight, from 26 January; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the new policy today, 12 January. The CDC said travellers must get a viral test within three days before their flight to the U.S. A verifiable test result must be in the form of written documentation (paper or electronic copy) of a laboratory test result.

The government of the devolved UK administration of Scotland has announced that as of 04.00 (GMT) today, Monday 11 January, anyone arriving or returning to Scotland from Dubai will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, as the region has been removed from the list of those that are exempt from self-isolation requirements. Those passengers that have travelled back to Scotland from Dubai since 3 January 2021 are also being asked to isolate for 10 days, from the date they arrived back in the country. Other destinations in the UAE currently remain exempt from self-isolation requirements for arrival in Scotland, and arrivals to England from Dubai remain exempt from self-isolation requirements at this time also.

The UK government has announced that as of 04.00 (GMT) on Tuesday 12 January, anyone arriving or returning to England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, as the country will be removed from the list of nations that are exempt from self-isolation requirements. This includes all emirates of the UAE; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al-Quwain, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

The Dubai-based airline has announced that it will resume non-stop flights to the U.S. city of Seattle from 1 February, as well as Dallas and San Francisco from 2 March. The addition of these three destinations will take Emirates’ North American network to 10 destinations following the resumption of services to Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Toronto and Washington DC.

The airline has announced that it will add two new domestic U.S. routes in the coming months from airports in southern California; firstly, a daily non-stop service between Los Angeles and Austin, Texas will be launched on 18 March, increasing to three-times daily from 20 May. Additionally, a non-stop daily service between San Diego and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport will begin on 4 April.

The government of South Africa has confirmed that the country will remain in adjusted COVID-19 alert level 'three', and that the 20 land ports of entry currently open will now be closed until 15 February. These include Beitbridge, Lebombo, Maseru Bridge, Oshoek, Ficksburg and Kopfontein. Entry and departure through these ports of entry will be permitted for the following reasons only: the transportation of fuel, cargo and goods, emergency medical attention for a life-threatening condition, the return of South African nationals, permanent residents or persons with other valid visas, Diplomats, the departure of foreign nationals and daily commuters from neighboring countries who attend school in South Africa.

An Australian government COVID-19 lockdown of more than 2.3 million residents in the south-east of the state of Queensland will end as scheduled at 18.00 (local time) on 11 January, after the state recorded no new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases on Monday. There is a list of requirements in place, including the carrying of masks at all times. The full list can be accessed online.

The country's government has announced that all inbound and outbound travellers are now required to present digitally verified proof of a negative COVID-19 test result. In line with the Africa CDC Trusted Traveller (TT) initiative, an online system designed to authenticate and verify travellers' COVID-19 certificates, no Kenyan laboratory will issue Covid-19 certificates without Trusted Travel (TT) codes. In-bound travellers from countries yet to onboard to the trusted travel initiative will use a toll made available through the UNDP-supported global haven partnership for COVID-19 test results and vaccine certificates verification. The government, however, did not issue clear procedures of how the verification system works for incoming travellers, who also need to present a negative COVID-19 certificate.

The government of the Australian state of Queensland has announced that residents and visitors in the city of Brisbane's Metro North, Metro South and West Moreton Hospital and Health Services - the council areas of Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, Logan and Redlands, will be required to stay at home during a three-say COVID-19 lockdown due to start today, 8 January at 18.00 (local time). The measures are currently set to end at 18.00 (local time) on Monday 11 January.

The UK government has announced that entry into England will be banned to those who have travelled from or through any southern African country in the last 10 days including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique and Angola – as well as Seychelles and Mauritius. This does not include British and Irish Nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents, who will be able to enter but are required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival along with their household. The government has therefore also removed Botswana, Seychelles and Mauritius from the travel corridor list, with the changes coming into place from 04.00 (local time) on Saturday 9 January 2021. The measures will be in place for an initial period of 2 weeks before being reviewed. The country's government has also removed Israel (and Jerusalem) from the 'travel corridor' list.

The country's government has announced that Saudi Arabia is to lift its travel ban and begin re-opening for tourism on 31 March. Currently, in accordance with restrictions in force as of 8 January, only non-Saudis who hold valid exit and entry, work, or residency visas are permitted to enter; travelers with tourist visas are barred from entry. Non-Saudis arriving from the UK, South Africa, India, Brazil, Argentina, and other countries where the new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been detected must currently remain outside of these countries for 14 days before entering Saudi Arabia. Saudi nationals are currently permitted to enter the kingdom from countries where the new variant has been found but must quarantine for 14 days and submit to two COVID-19 tests.

The government of the Australian state of Western Australia (WA) has announced that it will enact a hard border closure on arrivals from the state of Queensland as of midnight (local time) on 8 January 2021. All existing 'G2G' travel passes will be cancelled and only people with a valid exemption will be allowed to enter the state from Queensland. Additional quarantine requirements have also been imposed for passengers who have arrived into WA since 2 January.

The government of the Australian island-state of Tasmania has declared the area of Greater Brisbane a high-risk COVID-19 area. Any passenger arriving in Tasmania from 8 January, who has been in the Greater Brisbane area since 2 January 2021, will be required to immediately self-isolate for up to 14 days.

The country's government has updated its entry requirements and announced that, from 8 January 2021, all international travellers entering South Korea (with the exception of citizens) must present a COVID-19 negative PCR test result issued a maximum of 72 hours prior to departure; those who do not have a negative test result will be denied boarding. All travellers, regardless of visa type and nationality, are required to be re-tested at a government-designated facility within three days of arrival and a 14-day quarantine is required for all travellers, except for those holding a quarantine isolation exemption certificate. Transit travellers must transit within 24 hours and are not permitted to leave the airport under any circumstances.