COVID restrictions – आवारा मुसाफिर

China halts visas for Japan, South Korea in COVID-19 spat

January 10, 2023148 Views

Chinese embassies suspended issuing new visas for South Koreans and Japanese on Tuesday in apparent retaliation for COVID-19 testing requirements recently imposed by those countries on travelers from China. The embassies in Tokyo and Seoul announced the suspensions in brief online notices. The Seoul notice, posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account, said the ban would continue until South Korea lifts its “discriminatory entry measures” against China. The announcement covered tourist, business and some other visas. China’s Foreign Ministry threatened countermeasures last week against countries that had announced new virus testing requirements for travelers from China. At least 10 in Europe, North America and Asia have done so recently, with officials expressing concern a...

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Indonesia lifts remaining COVID restrictions

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 30, 2022989 Views

Indonesia on Friday removed all remaining measures to control the spread of COVID-19 effective immediately, since most of the country's population already has antibodies against the disease, President Joko Widodo said. "There will be no more restrictions on gatherings and movements," the president told a news conference, noting that the decision was taken based on the latest infection figures. FILE PHOTO: Tourists sit at a restaurant on Jimbaran Beach in Bali, Indonesia on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) Before the announcement, most mobility restrictions had already been removed for recipients of at least one booster vaccine shot, but authorities still required masks to be worn indoors and use of a COVID tracker app when entering most public spaces. Jokow...

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Hong Kong scraps more restrictions for travelers

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 13, 2022901 Views

Hong Kong is scrapping some of its last remaining Covid restrictions following China’s rapid shift away from the zero-tolerance approach. A drastic change of entry rules will be followed as of Wednesday, December 14. Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau told a news conference Tuesday that travelers arriving in the city would no longer be issued an “amber code” barring them from entering restaurants and bars during their first three days. The government will lift a ban on international arrivals going to bars or eating at restaurants, and stop requiring people to scan a QR code on their phones to enter venues, Chief Executive John Lee said at a press conference Tuesday. Some venues will still need proof of vaccination upon entry, he said, without mentioning whether the government intends to ...

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New Zealand removes most remaining COVID restrictions

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

September 12, 20221305 Views

Tourists will no longer need to be vaccinated to visit New Zealand removed most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions Monday as the government signaled a return to normalcy for the first time since the pandemic began. People will no longer be required to wear masks in supermarkets, stores, busses or planes. The last remaining vaccine mandates — on health care workers — will end. And tourists will no longer need to be vaccinated in order to visit the country. The government announced it was ditching its so-called COVID traffic light framework altogether and leaving in place just two main restrictions — that those who test positive for the virus isolate for seven days, and that people wear masks when visiting health care facilities like hospitals and aged-care homes. FILE PHOTO...

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Cuban tourism industry flounders as sunseekers look elsewhere

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 19, 2022440 Views

Cuba is struggling to reawaken its tourism industry after months of pandemic-induced slumber as travelers stay away, threatening to derail the government's plan to haul the economy out of a deepening crisis. The communist-run island, long a popular Caribbean destination, has been betting on tourism to power 4% economic growth this year after the coronavirus pandemic slashed output, resulting in food and medicine shortages and power outages, and contributing to the largest anti-government protests since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Taxi drivers manoeuvre vintage cars as they wait for tourists in Havana, Cuba, February 16, 2022. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli Unlike many regional neighbors, some analysts believe Cuba erred on the side of caution in response to COVID-19. It kept its bo...

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Vietnam eyes full reopening to tourists from next month

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 15, 2022872 Views

Vietnam's tourism ministry on Tuesday proposed a full reopening of the country to foreign visitors and a lifting of nearly all travel restrictions from March 15, three months earlier than planned. The proposal, which will be submitted to the prime minister for approval, follows similar reopening steps taken by other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines, where the Omicron COVID-19 variant has caused a recent spike in new infections, but fewer hospitalisations and deaths than previous variants. FILE PHOTO: A sunset is seen in a resort after in Phu Quoc island, Vietnam. REUTERS/James Pearson The proposal includes maintaining a one-day quarantine requirement for visitors plus requiring negative COVID-19 tests before departure and on arrival. Vietnam announce...

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Vietnam to end curbs on international flights from Feb 15

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 13, 2022502 Views

Vietnam will remove its COVID-19 restrictions on international passenger flights with all markets starting Feb. 15, with no limitation on the number of flights, the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Sunday. The Southeast Asian country imposed tight border controls at the start of the pandemic to keep out COVID-19, with some initial success, but that dealt a blow to its burgeoning tourism sector which accounted for about 10% of gross domestic product. "Vietnam will lift restrictions on international flights starting February 15. The frequency of flights will be restored to pre-pandemic level," Tuoi Tre said, citing Dinh Viet Son, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam. FILE PHOTO: Phu Quoc resort island is seen via the window of an airplane Phu Quoc...

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Thailand likely to wave quarantine for foreign visitors from Feb

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

January 18, 2022219 Views

Considering establishing more “sandbox” areas for tourists Thailand will lower its COVID-19 alert level and is considering easing more restrictions to boost its economy, its health minister said on Tuesday, in response to a slower infection rate. Among measures being considered are establishing more “sandbox” areas for tourists, who can skip quarantine if they stay in specified areas for seven days and undergo two COVID-19 tests. Its health minister also said on Monday that Thailand is considering bringing back a quarantine waiver for vaccinated visitors, as part of a proposed easing of some COVID-19 measures later this week. A volunteer in personal protective equipment (PPE) takes swab samples from a sex worker for a rapid antigen test amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ...

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Morocco’s tourism sector hammered by tough restrictions

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

January 2, 20221317 Views

Businesses working in Morocco's key tourism sector say the country's tough COVID-19 restrictions, including a full flight ban, are undermining its competitiveness compared to rival destinations. Morocco shut its borders in late November and will only reopen them at the end of January. It also banned new year celebrations and is enforcing its vaccine pass requirements more strictly in response to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of tourists riding camels in the Agafay desert near Marrakech, Morocco November 9, 2021. REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg "These restrictions are unjustified and they have made Morocco lose tourists to Mediterranean competitors such as Egypt and Turkey," said Lahcen Zelmat, head of Morocco's hotel federation. Tourism generated $8...

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Melbourne to ease world’s longest COVID lockdowns

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

October 17, 2021513 Views

Double-vaccination rate in Victoria set to reach 70% this week Melbourne, which has spent more time under COVID-19 lockdowns than any other city in the world, is set to lift its stay-at-home orders this week, officials said on Sunday. By Friday, when some curbs will be lifted, the Australian city of 5 million people will have been under six lockdowns totalling 262 days, or nearly nine months, since March 2020. Australian and other media say this is the longest in the world, exceeding a 234-day lockdown in Buenos Aires. FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian wearing a protective face mask walks past light rail platforms devoid of waiting passengers in the city centre at morning commute hour during a lockdown to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Sydney, Australia...