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The government of Hong Kong announced that it had lifted a COVID-19 'lockdown' early this morning, 25 January, imposed upon an area in the district of Kowloon on 23 January in response to the discovery of 13 confirmed cases of the virus in a residential area. Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities have started to take further, firm measures to curb the spread of the virus including a ban on in-house dining after 18.00 (local time), and the closing of facilities such as gyms, sports venues and beauty salons.

The country's government has confirmed that it will extend the closure of its land borders for a further week until at least 1 February to curb the spread of COVID-19. The land borders were originally closed last week in response to concerns over new variants of the virus.

Parts of central Mozambique have been flooded after Cyclone Eloise struck near the port city of Beira with wind speeds of up to 160km/h; Beira received 250mm of rain in 24 hours. Local officials and aid agencies are assessing the scale of the damage to be able to help those affected, and trying to restore power and communications, which were cut off in some areas. The cyclone has now been downgraded to a tropical storm and was forecast to be heading toward Zimbabwe and northern South Africa, which have already experienced heavy rainfall.

The country's government has announced that from 00.01 (local time) on 25 January it will temporarily suspend entry to all foreign nationals entering Sweden from Norway, in a bit to halt a new COVID-19 variant first discovered in the UK. The measures, which include exemptions for commuters and limited other groups, are set to last until 14 February. Sweden's government is also reportedly considering extending existing bans on entry from the UK and Denmark.

The country's government has announced that it will be banning both incoming visitors and outbound residents from travel for the purposes of tourism until at least 1 March in order to limit the spread of new variants of COVID-19; the measure will come into effect from 27 January. People will still though be able to cross borders for essential trips, such as for work or for medical treatment. Belgium will also tighten rules on people arriving from Britain, South Africa or South America, where more transmissible variants have been found, with a mandatory 10-day quarantine.

The middle-eastern airline has announced that from 1 June it will resume flights to Atlanta, which will be it's twelfth U.S. destination, with four weekly flights. Qatar Airways has also said that it will significantly increase flight frequencies, adding an additional total 13 weekly flights to its U.S. destinations, this operating a total of 83 weekly flights.

The country's government has announced that it will lift a suspension on international flights by 1 February, which has been in place since March as an anti-COVID-19 pandemic measure. Locally, shopping centres are set to re-open in the capital city of Tbilisi next month, and the authorities are also planning to re-open schools and public transport there in March.

The country's new president yesterday, 21 January, signed an executive order requiring quarantines for individuals entering the U.S. - this is in addition to a raft of requirements including the wearing of masks for all interstate travel, and follows on from a previous announcement of the introduction of mandatory COVID-19 pre-testing for international arrivals from 26 January. The president did not specify how long people will be required to quarantine upon U.S. arrival; the executive order says only that the quarantine period will be in accord with CDC guidelines. On its website, the CDC recommends that in most cases individuals stay home for seven days after arriving from abroad.

Ethiopian Airlines and Cemair have started implementing an interline agreement which allows passengers to enjoy seamless travel with a single ticket and lower cost between points within the carriers' networks.

The country's government has announced that from 23 January it will suspend all flights to and from the UK, as Portugal continues its efforts tackle a rapid spread of a new variant of COVID-19. Only special repatriation flights are due to be permitted to operate between both countries, according to Portugal's prime minister.

The UK transport secretary has announced that an urgent decision has been made to ban non-UK and Irish nationals arriving from Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo from 04.00 (GMT) today, Friday 22 January; an exemption is also granted to third country nationals with UK residence rights. The suspension is related to the ongoing monitoring of new strains of COVID-19 in a number of countries. Although the ban does not apply to British and Irish Nationals, and third country nationals with residence rights, all passengers returning from these destinations must also self-isolate for 10 days along with their households.

The government of Northern Ireland has announced that it will extend current COVID-19 'lockdown' restrictions until at least 5 March, with an interim review scheduled for 18 February. The measures, which include a closure of non-essential retailers and the urging of employees to work from home, began shortly after Christmas. Family gatherings are also prohibited and people have been ordered to stay at home for all but essential reasons.

The airline has announced that all passengers flying outbound from Singapore, and inbound to Singapore from Indonesia, will soon be able to book pre-departure COVID-19 PCR and serology tests as part of a new trial service; the scheme will be operated in partnership with the medical services provider Collinson. Subject to success, the programme is expected to be expanded to include more cities in the Singapore Airlines and SilkAir network, and is the first time that the airline has offered pre-departure testing services with a global partner to its passengers.

The government of the Australian region of the Northern Territory (NT) has announced that it is now mandatory for face masks to be worn at all major NT airports, and while on board an aircraft travelling to or from the area. Children under the age of 12 and people with a specified medical condition are not required to wear a mask.

The country's government announced today, 21 January, that it will extend a 24-hour lockdown imposed earlier this month by two weeks, to combat a continued rise in COVID-19 infections. The tight restrictions on movement across the country, which had been due to run until 25 January, will stay in place until at least 8 February.

The country's government has today, 21 January, re-opened to foreign tourists and resumed international commercial flights following a closure of over 10 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under new measures, visitors must be tested for COVID-19 in their country of origin a maximum of 72 hours prior to their flight, once more when they arrive at their hotel, and for a final time seven days later. They will be allowed to travel in 14 designated tourism zones under a 'travel bubble' initiative, without mixing with local people. So far around 180 hotels have been earmarked to provide approved accommodation for tourism.

Indian airline Vistara has started daily flights between New Delhi and the emirate of Sharjah, under a bilateral travel bubble arrangement between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sharjah is Vistara’s second destination in the UAE, complementing its weekly flights between Delhi and Dubai. Starting from 24 January, the airline will also fly daily between Mumbai and Sharjah.

The government of Canada yesterday, 20 January, announced a one month extension to a suspension on non-essential international travel to the country, stretching the restrictions until 21 February. Passengers eligible to enter Canada despite the suspension, which has been in force since March, must still quarantine for 14 days on arrival.

The cross-channel rail provider has announced that customers can get a COVID-19 PCR test at London's St. Pancras International; the test costs £149 with results available the next day between 17.00 and 23.59 (local time), and passengers should book their test in advance but no more than 72 hours prior to departure. Although the testing initiative is in partnership with Eurostar, it is being operated by London Medical Laboratory - a third party provider.

The government of the UAE emirate of Dubai have announced that entry to passengers who have travelled from or through South Africa in the past ten days will now be suspended, after it introduced a raft of new restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19. Travellers from South Africa holding valid Dubai residence visas will also need government approval before being allowed to depart. Returning residents, who have received approval from the GDRFA or Federal Authority, must also produce two negative COVID-19 PCR test results. These tests must be completed within 96 hours of departure and then upon arrival in Dubai. Rapid antigen test certificates will not be accepted. South Africans will still be allowed to transit through Dubai International Airport on route to their final destinations to other countries which still allow for entry. South Africans in transit will still need to produce a negative Covid-19 test and will be confined to the airport precinct.