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The government in Spain's Catalonia region has re-imposed COVID-19 controls on an area of 210,000 people after a sharp rise in infections. The region's president has said no-one will now be allowed to enter or leave Segrià, an agricultural area west of Barcelona which includes the city of Lleida. The local lockdown began on the afternoon of 4 July, with provisions made to allow non-residents to leave.

Passengers flying with Qatar Airways are now required to wear a face shield throughout their flight, in addition to a face mask or covering. Face shields will be available at check-in at Doha's Hamad International Airport, where the airline is based. If passengers are travelling on Qatar Airways flights from other destinations, face shields will be distributed at the boarding gate.

American Airlines will move its London Heathrow operations into the airport’s Terminal 5 on 7 July, where joint venture partner British Airways is based. The move will facilitate smoother connections between the four daily Heathrow flights American Airlines is currently flying and British Airways’ domestic, European and global networks.

The cross-channel rail provider Eurostar has confirmed that it will reinstate its daily through-train from London St Pancras to the Dutch city if Amsterdam effective as of 9 July. There will be a single service (previously it operated up to three times daily) departing London at 11.04 and arriving into Amsterdam Centraal at 16.11.

The country has extended their current public health emergency status until 14 July, ahead of international tourism being due to resume from the following day. However, curfew restrictions in the Greater Male area have been eased and there are no movement restrictions there from 0500 to 2300 (local time) daily. Maldives will restart tourism and re-open borders for visitors from all nationalities from 15 July. Tourists traveling to the Maldives will be provided a free 30-day tourist visa on arrival.

Government official's in Spain's north-western region of Galicia have re-imposed restrictions on an area of 70,000 people following a COVID-19 outbreak. Only those travelling for work will be allowed to leave or enter the coastal district of A Marina from midnight on Sunday 5 July to Friday 10 July. The move comes a day after the north-eastern region of Catalonia imposed a similar local lockdown.

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, a joint venture between Etihad and Air Arabia, is Abu Dhabi's first low-cost airline and will take to the skies from 14 July. It will begin operations with direct flights connecting Abu Dhabi with Alexandria and Sohag in Egypt. The inaugural flight will take off from Abu Dhabi to Alexandria on 14 July followed by flights to Sohag the next day.

The Greek government has announced that it has banned all but essential travel from Serbia, as COVID-19 infection numbers steadily rise in the Balkan country. For a week from the morning of 6 July, all entry points are closed to Serbian travellers. The move comes days after Serbian authorities re-imposed lockdown restrictions in the capital Belgrade.

The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has partially lifted an exceptional travel advisory which has been place since March, advising British citizens against 'all but essential' travel worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective as of 4 July, 67 countries and territories that are judged to be low-risk are now exempt from the advisory.

The country has announced that has extended the third phase of it's COVID-19 measures until 19 June; the third of four, since 15 June the current phase has allowed the limited re-opening of restaurants and indoor gyms by appointment only, outdoor exercise for up to two people, drive-in cinema and other cultural activities with social distancing measures. From 4 May onwards, the 'smart quarantine' measures were originally introduced to relax nationwide measures in four phases. Exhaustive information on each phase is available on the Paraguayan Ministry of Health website (in Spanish).

The country's transport minister has announced that Ireland will ease quarantine restrictions on people travelling from abroad on 20 July, with people arriving from a 'green list' of countries with low COVID-19 rates to be exempt from isolating themselves for 14 days. The government had previously said in June that the restrictions would be eased from 9 July, but since have delayed this due to concern about travel-related infections.

The airline has announced that it will resume flying to more destinations across its network throughout July 2020. Across the UK and Europe, the airline will return to more short haul destinations by the end of July including Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey. Domestic flights will resume between London and Belfast, Inverness, Jersey, Manchester, Newcastle and Newquay and the airline will move to double daily services to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Long-haul services set to resume include flights to a number of U.S. cities, the Caribbean, Toronto and Tokyo.

The South African regional airline has published updated information on everything that passengers need to know in order to travel domestically, including: social distancing at the airport, airport access, drop-off, pick-up and parking; thermal screening, boarding procedures, hygiene on shuttle buses and procedures on board the plane.

Airlines within the Lufthansa Group have published their summer flight schedule from July through to October 2020, when they will return to over 90% of short and medium haul destinations and 70% of long haul destinations compared to the same periods last year. Included within the list of destinations to which flights will resume are Indian cities New Delhi and Mumbai.

Sydney Airport has introduced a cap on international arrivals effective from tomorrow, 4 July 2020, when arrivals will be limited to 50 people per incoming flight and a total of 450 arrivals per day. The decision follows an increase in diverted flights to Sydney from Melbourne Airport, where incoming international flights have been suspended until 15 July - this has caused a strain on government quarantine facilities in Sydney. The cap is due to stay in place until at least 15 July when Melbourne Airport is due to resume receiving international flights.

The Queensland government department of health has provided further clarification for quarantine requirements on arrival in the state. While the directive says that any person who has been in a COVID-19 hotspot within the previous 14 days must quarantine upon arrival, paragraph 13 stipulates exemptions to this, including for specialist workers or those solely transiting through an airport in a COVID-19 hotspot.

Indian hotel chain ITC Hotels have announced that it's property Welcomhotel Amritsar is now the state of Punjab’s ‘First LEED certified hotel’ under the aegis of USGBC (US Green Building Council). The hotel received the rating for energy efficiency for a range of sustainable initiatives like using 33% less energy & reducing water consumption by 46%. ITC's Gardenia hotel in Bengaluru is the first LEED platinum certified hotel in Asia Pacific (2009), while ITC Maurya was the first hotel in the world to be awarded this rating.

The UK government has confirmed a list of 59 countries from which visitors or returning passengers are due to be exempt from the current 14-day self-quarantine on arrival requirement in England from 10 July. The devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to set out their own approach to exemptions seperately.

The UK government have this morning issued a press release confirming that passengers returning to or visiting England from Germany, France, Spain and Italy will no longer need to self-isolate on arrival from 10 July 2020. A further announcement is expected at around lunchtime today, 3 July, whereby a list of around 50 countries may be announced as also exempt from self-isolation requirements. The UK's devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to set out their own requirements.

The world’s largest hotel chain, Marriott International, has embarked on project ‘We Care’ in India, which will entail new standard operating procedures for its staff and guests. Starting with JW Marriott at Aerocity New Delhi and the Ritz Carlton Pune, Marriott will gradually implement this programme across all its hotels in India and South Asia.