The United Arab Emirates has been removed from the U.K.’s list of travel corridors.
The mandatory quarantine came into effect after 04:00 GMT on Tuesday, January 12, for passengers arriving from the U.A.E. Those are now required to self-isolate for ten days.
The decision followed the 52% spike in the COVID-19 cases in the past week. Another reason was the subsequent incidence of imported cases in the U.K.
Government officials have kept an eye on visits to the U.A.E. since weeks ago after the country became a popular holiday destination.
Scotland was the first to react on Monday, January 11, removing Dubai from the safe travel list.
The Scottish regulations also apply retrospectively. All travelers who have arrived in the country from the city since January 3 must undergo the required quarantine.
Accordingly, the Department of Transport mentioned that all four U.K. nations should soon adopt the new measurements.
The ongoing lockdown in the U.K. bans all leisure journeys. Passengers arriving from destinations that are not on the travel corridor list must quarantine for ten days.
From the beginning of this week, all passengers including U.K. nationals have to present a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours before departure.
The U.K. Foreign Office advises limiting travel to the U.A.E. only for essential purposes, as the infection numbers remain high.
So far, the U.A.E. has reported 233,000 coronavirus cases and 711 deaths. At the moment, there are 23,905 active cases.
However, the country has already rolled out mass vaccination to fight the virus. Until now, more than a million shots have been distributed across the Emirates. Besides, all U.A.E. residents are eligible for free vaccination.