Dubai updates travel protocols

Our correspondent

With effect from January 31, inbound passengers to the emirate of Dubai will have to take heed of new travel protocols. The Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai, headed by H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced the updates on January 27 as part of its keenness to protect passengers and ease hassles for them without compromising on COVID-19 precautionary measures.

Hereafter, UAE residents, GCC citizens and visitors are required to do a PCR test prior to departure for Dubai irrespective of their country of origin.

The Committee has also mandated that arrivals from certain countries – depending on the pandemic situation there – have to do an additional test on arrival in Dubai.

Protocols will remain the same for UAE citizens returning to the country from overseas, but they will be exempt from undergoing a PCR test prior to departure, regardless of the country they are coming from. They will only be required to conduct a PCR test on arrival in Dubai.

The validity period of PCR tests has been reduced from 96 hours to 72 hours. The Committee has directed Dubai Airports Company to provide Rapid PCR or Rapid Antigen testing at Dubai airports, in cooperation with relevant authorities, to facilitate travel procedures for passengers departing from Dubai to countries that require this type of pre-travel test and in accordance with the time-frame specified.

The Committee said the updated travel protocols are part of a regular process of revising and optimising precautionary measures based on the latest local, regional and international developments. They are also aimed at enabling the city to continue serving as a global commercial hub and a bridge for travel and trade between the east and west.

The UAE Federal Health Ministry announced 3,939 new coronavirus cases, 4,536 recoveries from the disease and 6 deaths on January 27.