The UK has added passengers from the UAE to its list of countries exempt from a 14-day quarantine requirement in place to stop the spread of coronavirus.
It means that, from Saturday at 8am UAE time when the change comes into force, travellers from the UAE will no longer have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival in the UK.
The announcement was made by the UK Ministry of Transport on Thursday.
The decision was welcomed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum on Twitter, who said Emirates was ready to reinstate flights.
The UK also moved to extend the quarantine measures for Demark by another 14 days after it was initially announced on November 7.
The decision is in response to the threat from a mutated version of COVID-19 found in humans and linked to mink farms. Last week, Denmark announced the COVID-19 mutation had jumped from mink to humans and infected 12 people in the country’s north.
Travellers from most of Greece other than the islands of Corfu, Crete, Rhodes, Zakynthos and Kos will also now have to isolate for 14 days because of a spike in cases.
Alongside the UAE, the UK also added the quarantine exemption for those coming from Iceland, Chile, Laos, Cambodia, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Bahrain and Qatar.
