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Bahrain, Qatar, UAE to Move From Red to Amber on UK Travel List

British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced in a tweet late Wednesday that Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as India, would be recategorized as amber, rather than red, on the UK’s “traffic light” system for travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK assigns countries green (low risk), amber (medium risk) or red (high risk) status based on COVID-19 risk. Travelers to Britain from red countries must quarantine at a hotel for 10 days.

The changes to the list will go into effect on Sunday, August 8 at 4 am British Summer Time.

All travelers aged 11 or older must take a coronavirus test within 10 days before arrival in the UK. In addition, all travelers except those aged 4 and under must take a COVID-19 PCR test on or before their second day in Britain.

Travelers coming from countries on the amber list are required to home-quarantine for 10 days, taking a PCR test on days 2 and 8. They also have a “test to release” option on day 5. Different rules apply for fully vaccinated people arriving from EU countries and US.

Those coming from red-list countries must quarantine at a hotel for 10 days, taking a PCR test on days 2 and 8.

Israel (including Jerusalem) is the only MENA country on Britain’s green list. It is considered on the green watchlist, meaning that it is in danger of being reclassified.

Amber list countries in the Middle East and North Africa include Algeria, Cyprus, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen and, from Aug. 8 at 4 am BST, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

The MENA countries on Britain’s red list include Afghanistan, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, and, until Aug. 8 at 4 am BST, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Middle East and North Africa as of 7:30 am Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0) on Thursday.

 

Country Confirmed Cases Deaths Recovered Active Cases
Afghanistan 149,361 6,864 101,329 41,168
Algeria 176,724 4,404 118,409 53,911
Bahrain 269,617 1,384 267,220 1,013
Cyprus 103,889 430 80,178 23,281
Djibouti 11,655 156 11,491 8
Egypt 284,472 16,550 232,179 35,743
Iran 4,019,084 92,194 3,444,798 482,092
Iraq 1,673,084 18,938 1,494,760 159,386
Israel 887,513 6,503 855,547 25,463
Jordan 774,554 10,082 752,624 11,848
Kuwait 400,979 2,351 388,880 9,748
Lebanon 565,896 7,921 537,653 20,322
Libya 260,951 3,635 195,639 61,677
Mauritania 26,902 581 22,859 3,462
Morocco 653,286 10,015 582,692 60,579
Oman 297,724 3,889 281,724 12,111
Pakistan 1,053,660 23,635 952,616 77,409
Palestinian Territories 317,404 3,609 312,320 1,475
Qatar 226,874 601 224,285 1,988
Saudi Arabia 529,995 8,284 511,318 10,393
Somalia 15,658 832 7,661 7,165
Sudan 37,138 2,776 30,867 3,495
Syria 26,044 1,919 22,019 2,106
Tunisia 602,757 20,550 530,545 51,662
Turkey 5,822,487 51,767 5,478,185 292,535
United Arab Emirates 686,981 1,965 664,130 20,886
Yemen 7,096 1,380 4,251 1,465
Total 19,881,785 303,215 18,106,179 1,472,391