COVID-19: UK halts travel from UAE

London: Britain on Tuesday announced an outright travel ban on non-citizens arriving from the UAE and quarantine measures for citizens coming in from there to stem coronavirus cases.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the UAE has been added to the government’s “red list” along with Burundi and Rwanda from 1pm on Friday.

Any British or Irish citizens and third country nationals with residence rights returning from the Gulf state will be required to isolate at home, or in a hotel for 10 days.

Everyone else is banned completely, and the government also announced that direct flights between Britain and the UAE were no longer allowed.

“The decision to ban travel from these destinations follows the discovery of a new coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa, that may have spread to other countries, including the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda,” said a government spokeswoman.