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The UK's national carrier has announced a new program of safety measures, designed to protect passengers at every step of the journey as they're welcomed back on board.

The airline has announced a new process to improve how customers can use their ticket value held in credit if their travel was impacted by COVID-19. Customers now have the option to use ticket credit towards multiple bookings, with greater flexibility that allows them to complete rebooked travel up until an extended deadline of 31 December 2022.

The airline has today announced that it will expand its schedule to offer scheduled flights for travellers to 10 additional cities. This includes Colombo from 20 June, Sialkot from 24 June and Istanbul from 25 June; this is to be followed by Auckland, Beirut, Brussels, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from 1 July and finally Barcelona and Washington DC from 15 July. However, flights from Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Pakistan will only carry passengers one-way into Dubai and onward connections.

The country has today made it compulsory for people to wear face masks when outside in the country’s largest cities of Istanbul and Ankara, as well as the northwestern city of Bursa. Cases of COVID-19 reported each day have recently doubled in the cities, following a relaxing of measures which included the resumption of inter-city flights.

The country's government has announced that special, short-term quarantine measures will apply in La Paz department (including the city of La Paz) from 00.01 (local time) on 20 June to 05.00 on 23 June. During this time residents will not be allowed outside and no vehicles, public or private, will be allowed to circulate.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has released further updates to its industry-leading wellness program, including a video highlighting what they describe as a transformation to the passenger airport experience. Among other measures introduced by Etihad is a dedicated wellness ambassador on board each flight.

Accor has launched the ALLSAFE global cleanliness & prevention label, which has been developed with, and vetted by, Bureau Veritas - a world leader in testing, inspections and certification. All of the group's hotels must adhere to these standards, and will be subject to audits either by Accor operational experts or by third-party auditors such as Bureau Veritas to receive this label.

South Africa's Capital Hotels & Apartments have launched increased safety measures to provide a safe and sanitised solution for essential meetings and events. They are also one of the first hotels nationally to launch such safety measures for guests and staff during COVID-19, and have proudly kept their doors open.

Following the previous news of a move to alert level three and increased curbs on movement, China's capital has now mandated COVID-19 testing for hundreds of thousands of people. Among other restrictions, residents must now have a negative result on a nucleic acid test in order to travel; as a result, long lines at clinics are becoming a common site as strain is put on the healthcare system.

The country's government announced on 16 June that Maurice Bishop International Airport will re-open on 1 July to regional and international flights. All arriving passengers will be screened, including via rapid COVID-19 testing, and will need to comply with quarantine requirements, which are expected to be released shortly.

The country's government announced today that it will allow entry to citizens from most European nations with a low number of COVID-19 infections from 27 June - two months earlier than originally planned. This includes around two million people from some qualifying regions of nearby, hard-hit Sweden.

Qatar's national airline has today announced the resumption of flights to New York (JFK) from 19 June, as well as Boston, Los Angeles and Washington Dulles from 1 July. This will see the airline’s U.S. network rebuild to 39 weekly flights to six U.S. cities by mid-July, including existing services to Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth which have remained in operation.

The country's government announced today that from 19 June it will introduce an obligatory 14-day quarantine from Friday for most people coming from Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo. This follows the previous introduction on 13 June of the same measures for 31 countries with high numbers of COVID-19 cases including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

The country's government announced yesterday that the current suspension of international commercial flights, plus the closure of land and sea borders, will remain in place until at least 4 July; there is, however, an indication that the measures are likely to extend beyond this. Despite the extension, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Qatar Airways may be offering limited special repatriation flights during this period.

Hilton has announced updates to a global program developed to introduce a new standard of hotel cleanliness and disinfection to ensure that guests enjoy an even cleaner and safer stay: Hilton CleanStay with Lysol protection. The program has been developed with experts from RB, maker of Lysol and Dettol - brands trusted for safely disinfecting surfaces. In addition, experts from the Infection Prevention and Control team at Mayo Clinic will advise and assist in enhancing Hilton’s cleaning disinfection protocols.

The country's aviation regulator said today that Thailand could allow inbound international travel to resume as early as next month for business purposes. Otherwise, a total flight suspension for all but repatriation services is due to expire at the end of June.

The country's prime minister has today reportedly announced plans to ease entry restrictions for people coming from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam, according to a Jiji news agency report. Further details, including proposed timelines, are currently unclear.

The country's government has updated restrictions for international arrivals; anyone entering Austria from a country for which a travel warning is in place must now present a qualifying medical certificate that is less than four days old, with few exceptions. Arrivals from countries without a travel warning in place can enter without need for a certificate or quarantine. A list of countries can be found on the government's website, listed in German.

The airline has announced that passenger flights between Auckland and Shanghai will resume once per week from 22 June. Flight number NZ289 will leave Auckland on a Monday, and return from Shanghai on a Wednesday. The service will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 aircraft and will remain on this schedule until 30 August, unless otherwise advised.

The United States Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will extend existing restrictions on non-essential travel at land ports of entry with Canada and Mexico for at least another 30 days from 23 June, when the restriction was previously due to expire.