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The government of the Australian state of Queensland has confirmed that it will re-open its border to travellers from the Greater Sydney metropolitan area, in the state of New South Wales (NSW) from 1 February. The decision means that those arriving in Queensland from Greater Sydney, as well as Wollongong, Central Coast and the Blue Mountains will no longer be required to quarantine on arrival.

The country's government has said today that it may be set to resume regular international air travel, under a package of fresh relaxations in COVID-19 measures announced today, 28 January, which will go into effect from 1 February. India suspended all incoming and outgoing international flights, as well as domestic air travel, in the last week March 2020. International flights to and from India have since been resumed in a phased manner with about two dozen countries under bilateral 'air bubble' agreements. Meanwhile, the country has also fully resumed domestic air services.

The airline has outlined plans to restore a 'significant' proportion of its international flight network by the end of 2021, with frequency increases on key routes to the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Among these increases in frequency are plans to offer a daily flight from the country's capital of Kuala Lumpur to the UK by July. In Australia, the airline has said that it expects to operate 39 weekly return flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth by late December; services to New Zealand are set to resume from late March.

The government of Ireland has announced a tightening of travel restrictions on passengers from South Africa and Brazil, including the suspension of visa-free travel. While South Africans can still travel to Ireland with immigration permission granted for work or study, arriving passengers will be subjected to strict COVID-19 testing and quarantine protocols. South African travellers will be required to supply a negative COVID-19 PCR test result within 72 hours of their departure; even with this proof, visitors will be required to stay in a designated quarantine facility for two weeks.

The UK’s home secretary has confirmed the introduction of a new requirement for all eligible arrivals from a list of ‘high-risk’ countries to be placed in government-assigned and monitored hotel quarantine for 10 days. Although a start date has not yet been confirmed, further guidance is to be expected from the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care next week. It has though been indicated that the measures will apply to all eligible arrivals from the UK’s ‘red list’ countries, which are deemed as high-risk for COVID-19 variants.

The country's government has announced that from 27 January, it will resume international passenger flights to and from Qatar, India, Vietnam and Finland - from which services were previously suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an official government release, the flights to Qatar will depart three times a week, and to India, Vietnam and Finland twice a week.

The country's government has yesterday, 26 January, announced a temporary suspension of all international flights which have originated from, or passed through, the countries of the UK, Ireland and South Africa. The Brazilian authorities have also suspended boarding permits for persons who have arrived from the UK and South Africa or were there in transit in the past 14 days. Failure to comply with the new rules will result in the deportation of the passenger to their country of origin.

The middle-eastern airline has confirmed plans to continue to grow its African flight network to over 100 weekly flights to 23 destination cities. In addition to the current network, Qatar Airways has resumed services to a number of destinations, or is due to resume them by 1 February; these destinations include Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt; Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa; Tunis, Tunisia and Casablanca, Morocco.

The airline has unveiled updated capability on its mobile app, ahead of a new requirement from 26 January for passengers arriving in the U.S. to show either a negative COVID-19 test result from within 72 hours of departure, or proof that they have recovered from the virus within the previous 90 days. United Airlines passengers can now upload the required documentation directly to the app for verification prior to their airport arrival.

The Dubai-based airline has confirmed that its flights to South Africa will remain suspended until at least 4 February, in line with recent directives from the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which restrict entry to passengers originating in South Africa. Passengers travelling from third country destinations and holding tickets with a final destination in South Africa will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin by Emirates; affected passengers should contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking options.

Dubai government-owned budget airline flydubai has announced that it is adding an additional four destinations to its European flight network, taking the total on the continent to 20. The upcoming routes, which will begin from May, are Catania and Naples in Italy, Salzburg in Austria and the island of Malta. This will take the total global destination list to 65 destinations worldwide.

The country's government yesterday, 25 January, signed an order suspending entry to most non-U.S. citizens who have previously been in South Africa, which will be effective from 30 January. Also signed was an order extending an entry ban on nearly all non-U.S. travellers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe.

The country's government has announced a two-week COVID-19 'lockdown' in 10 regions from 31 January until 14 February; the new restrictions will include a closure of all non-essential shops, a suspension of domestic air and land travel, and the extension of a suspension on international flights from Europe and Brazil in an attempt to curb new, more contagious strains of the virus.

The U.S. airline has confirmed that the start of a new, direct flight route between South Africa's Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport and New York's Newark Liberty International Airport has been delayed until 3 June. It was previously due to start from March 2021 - however the decision to delay has been made in response to current demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From 1 February, passengers age 6 years or older will be required to wear medical grade masks on German airlines and at airports in Germany. The rule will apply to passengers flying the Lufthansa Group carriers, which include Lufthansa, Austrian, Brussels, Eurowings and Swiss; it will also apply to on Condor and TUI fly Deutschland flights as well as to anyone in passenger areas at German airports. Under the rule, surgical masks or N95 masks will be permitted - cloth face coverings and masks with an outlet valve will not be allowed, and passengers must supply the masks themselves.

The country's government announced today, 25 January, that all incoming passengers to the country will now be required to present a qualifying, negative COVID-19 PCR test result; this includes arrivals from the European Union (EU). The measures have been taken in an attempt to prevent a rise in new, more contagious variants of the virus. Domestically, the country currently plans to ease other restrictions and re-open secondary schools, shopping malls and gyms from 4 February.

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 government of the U.S. state of California is reportedly expected to lift its current, regional stay-at-home orders across the state from today, 25 January, instead opting to move individual counties back into a tier-based re-opening framework. Most regions across California are expected to move into the 'purple' tier, meaning personal care services like hair salons can re-open with modifications, and restaurants can open for outdoor service.