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The US Department of State updated several of its travel advisories yesterday 1 March with 20 countries’ advisories changed based on the risk level of COVID-19 presence in those areas. Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Montserrat, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Togo moved to Level 2: Moderate Risk. Comoros, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, and Uganda were designated Level 3: High Risk. Anguilla, Belarus, British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Mali, Russia, Saba, and Vietnam were listed under Level 4: Very High Risk

Travellers from Canada can now enter Portugal for travel purposes as the latter has removed the non-essential travel ban.

Passengers flying from India and Pakistan to UAE now only need to take a PCR test 48 hours prior to departure, according to UAE airlines. Emirates airline on Tuesday updated Dubai entry requirements for passengers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and several other countries. The carrier said that passengers from these countries who have Dubai as their final destination need to only present a negative COVID‑19 PCR test taken within 48 hours prior to departure. Passengers were previously required to also take a rapid PCR test at airports six hours prior to their departure.

Following a review of Western Australia's border controls based on the latest health advice, the updated Safe Transition Plan will take effect from 12.01am March 3, 2022. The full border opening will allow for safe travel into WA from interstate and overseas with vaccination and testing requirements on arrival, pending latest health advice. Interstate travel into WA will be permitted with the following requirements: have a registered G2G Pass; be triple dose vaccinated, if eligible; and undertake a rapid antigen test on arrival (within 12 hours and report any positive result). International travellers into WA will be permitted with the following requirements: meet Commonwealth Government requirements to enter Australia; be fully vaccinated under the Commonwealth requirements, if eligible; have a registered G2G Pass; undertake a rapid antigen test on arrival (within 12 hours and report any positive result); and unvaccinated returning Australians will be required to complete hotel quarantine.

All COVID-19 travel restrictions for people arriving into the Northern Territory have been dropped as of late Friday afternoon, 18 February 2022. This means that domestic travellers can enter without the need to fill out the Border Entry Form and unvaccinated travellers arriving from other Australian states or territories are able to enter without any pre-approval. International travellers, including those just transiting, will no longer need to fill out the Border Entry Form and will just need to comply with the Australian Commonwealth requirements for entering Australia. If international tourists are double vaccinated there is no quarantine required. Any unvaccinated traveller entering Australia via Darwin from overseas will still require an exemption from today.

Canada will ease entry for fully vaccinated international travelers starting on Feb. 28 as COVID-19 cases decline, allowing a rapid antigen test for travelers instead of a molecular one, officials said on Tuesday.

The emerging Saudi tourist hotspot of AlUla has received a big boost from its neighbour, the UAE, after Flydubai announced the launch of flights to the historic destination. Flydubai will become the first UAE carrier to operate flights from Dubai to AlUla as the north-west Saudi region continues to attract more visitors. The carrier said it will also resume its operations to Yanbu growing its network in the kingdom to six points including Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah and Riyadh.

Below are some countries where your first round of COVID-19 vaccines may no longer be enough: Austria – Previously, vaccine certificates were considered valid for 12 months, but Austrian authorities changed the regulations in early December. Now, your proof of two-dose vaccination is valid for only nine months from the final injection in the series, but it can be renewed if you’ve gotten a booster. Officials also decided that the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine won’t be recognized unless the individual has also received a booster jab. Croatia – Croatia considers visitors’ initial two-dose vaccine series expired if more than 365 days had passed since their completion. Booster information has not been specified. France – Travelers will be required to have received a booster dose if it’s been four months or more since the they completed their original vaccine series. The rule goes into effect on February 15. Greece – Starting in February, Greece will only grant entry to travelers whose final dose of a vaccination schedule was given within the last seven months, unless they’ve also received a booster injection. Iceland – Iceland will only admit travelers who completed their original vaccine series within the last nine months, unless they’ve also received a booster. Israel – Travelers to Israel must have received their final dose of their original vaccine series no more than 180 days (roughly six months) prior, unless they’ve been boostered. The Netherlands – From February 2, Americans will be able to visit the Netherlands quarantine-free, provided they have previously been vaccinated and have received a booster. Those who’ve only completed an initial vaccine series will have to quarantine for 10 days. Spain – Without a booster, travelers’ original vaccinations are only considered valid up to 270 days (nine months) from the final injection in the series.

Australia will reopen to all fully vaccinated visa holders, welcoming the return of tourists, business travellers, and other visitors from 21 February. Visa holders who are not fully vaccinated will still require a valid travel exemption to enter Australia, and will be subject to state and territory quarantine requirements.

From 1 February, for entry to the Republic of Ireland, vaccine certificates from the primary vaccination series will not be accepted for travel if more than 270 days have passed since the final dose. Vaccine certificates based on the booster or additional doses are not time limited. Passengers with an accepted proof of vaccination or proof of recovery from COVID-19 in the prior six months do not have to show an additional pre-departure COVID-19 test result. Passengers without proof of vaccination, or proof of recovery from COVID-19 in the prior six months, must show evidence of a negative PCR test result taken within the 72 hours prior to arriving in Ireland.

The New Zealand border will reopen to vaccinated Kiwis and other current eligible travellers from Australia at 11.59pm on 27 February and to the same groups from the rest of the world only two weeks later on 13 March, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi announced today. The Government’s reconnecting plan will see all New Zealanders and key visa holders able to start to enter the country over the coming three months, assisting with the economic recovery and immediately address worker shortages.

The United Arab Emirates lifted the entry ban for travellers from 12 African countries. The temporary ban imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 prevented arrivals from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The entry requirements for travellers from Uganda, Ghana and Rwanda were updated as well, with new rules coming into effect from Saturday, January 29 at 2:30 p.m. Those coming from the above-mentioned countries to the UAE have to have a negative Covid-19 test obtained within 48 hours from the approved labs in their respective countries of departure and a Rapid-PCR test at the airports of departure in addition to undertaking PCR test upon arrival while adhering to all relevant precautionary and preventative measures.

Travellers to the UK will no longer be required to take a Covid-19 PCR test if they are fully vaccinated. The new rule will come into effect from Friday, February 11. Moreover, the UK government said on its official website that travellers from the UAE will not be required to quarantine. Fully vaccinated travellers arriving in the UK will only be required to fill out a passenger locator form (PLF). Travellers must have had their second dose of the vaccine at least 14 days before they arrive in the United Kingdom. Anyone under the age of 18, regardless of their individual vaccination status, will continue to be considered fully vaccinated. Arrivals who are not fully vaccinated will need to take a pre-departure test and a PCR test on or before day two after they arrive in the country. The passenger locator form will be used to confirm vaccination status, travel history and contact details. People will also have an extra day to fill it out before travelling.

Emirates has announced it will resume passenger operations between Dubai and five African countries starting Saturday following an easing of coronavirus restrictions. The restoration of services will include Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dar El Salaam, Tanzania; Nairobi, Kenya; Harare, Zimbabwe; and Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in South Africa. The entry requirements for travellers from Uganda, Ghana and Rwanda were updated as well, with new rules coming into effect from Saturday. Flights between Dubai and South Africa will operate as a daily flight to and from Johannesburg, effective Saturday and double daily services from February 1. Flights to and from Cape Town and Durban will operate daily from February 1. Emirates will operate 10 weekly flights to Nairobi from Saturday while flights to Addis Ababa will operate daily from Sunday.

Qatar has updated an exceptional travel red list, adding six countries based on international and local health risk indicators and COVID-19 epidemiology. The update, announced by the Ministry of Public Health, comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Nepal and Egypt. The list will come into effect on Sunday, 30 January, at 7pm, the ministry said. According to procedures related to arrivals from the exceptional red list countries, fully vaccinated passengers from Qataris, foreign residents and nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council nations will be subject to a home quarantine for two days upon arrival. As for the unvaccinated travellers, they will be subject to a home quarantine for seven days upon arrival in Qatar. They are required to do a negative PCR test within 72 hours before arrival and a rapid antigen test on the seventh day of quarantine after arrival.

​​The Australian Government has reviewed the requirements for pre-departure testing for international arrivals to Australia and will make changes to provide more flexibility for people to demonstrate they have a negative COVID-19 test result prior to departure. Under the Biosecurity Act 2015 the Government will change the requirements for a pre-departure test of any nucleic acid amplification test (such as PCR tests) within three days, to allow the flexibility for passengers to instead show a negative test result through a rapid antigen test (RAT) within 24 hours of the flight departure time. These changes came into effect from 1.00am Sunday 23 January 2022.

Overnight, Smart Traveller has updated its advisory to do not travel to Ukraine due to the risk of conflict. It also advised that anyone in Ukraine at the moment should look to leave when it is safe to do so.

The planned reopening of Western Australia's border to the rest of the country on February 5 will be delayed indefinitely. WA has announced a new hard border from February 5, 2022 but allows for more safe compassionate travel and return of Western Australians. Under the new border settings, approved travellers are permitted to enter WA, or leave WA and return, with testing and quarantine requirements under the new expanded exemption criteria

Vaccinated international travellers will be allowed to enter Queensland without needing quarantine from this weekend. The rule change will come into effect from 1am on Saturday, 22 January, and only require those entering from overseas to do a rapid antigen test on entry - in line with national cabinet guidelines. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she hoped the announcement would give certainty to the travel industry and those travelling.

At home tests for travel must be proctored. That means the traveler must perform the test during a live telehealth video call with an authorized technician supervising the procedure in real time. The free rapid tests the government is distributing are not the type that are proctored.