Gulf Today Report
The United Kingdom may allow vaccinated UAE citizens and residents to travel to the UK without the need to be quarantined from Oct.4, according to the Minister for Middle East and North Africa in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, James Cleverly.
Cleverly said on Twitter, “Delighted that international travel is opening up.
“We are finalising arrangements with the UAE to include their nationals and residents in our plans to open up to the fully vaccinated from other countries from 4 October.”
Cleverly made the statement following a tweet from the Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps.
Shapps said on Twitter, “TRAVEL UPDATE: We’re making testing easier for travel
“From Mon 4 Oct, if you’re fully vax you won’t need a pre-departure test before arrival into England from a non-red country and from later in Oct, will be able to replace the day 2 PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow.”
The British government removed the UAE from the red to the amber list after monitoring the situation in the Emirates in August.
Shapps said, "We are committed to opening up international travel safely, taking advantage of the gains we’ve made through our successful vaccination programme, helping connect families, friends and businesses around the world.
"While we must continue to be cautious, today’s changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public.”
On the other hand, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office tweeted about the removal of some Asian and Middle Eastern countries from the RED list to its AMBER list.
It said that from 4am Wednesday 22 September, the following destinations will move from RED to AMBER list:
—Bangladesh
—Egypt
—Kenya
—Maldives
—Oman
—Pakistan
—Sri Lanka
—Turkey