To boost confidence in travellers, Emirates has launched a policy that will cover all of their passengers. The insurance is valid for passengers flying from 23 July to 31 October, 2020. It's free of charge, and customers don't have to register separately. Coverage is valid from the beginning of the traveller's journey to 31 days afterwards, even if passengers continue beyond their final Emirates destination.

Travellers will be able to file a claim for up to US$174,000 for medical expenses incurred. They will also be able to receive $116 to cover quarantine expenses for up to 14 days, and repatriation and funeral costs may be covered as well under the insurance.

Meanwhile, new testing requirements mean that passengers flying through UAE countries will have to be tested for Covid-19 before boarding.

For Emirates, this means that ‘from 1 August, all passengers travelling to Dubai from any destination, including passengers connecting in Dubai, must have a negative Covid-19 test certificate to be accepted on the flight’. “The test must be taken a maximum of 96 hours before departure. This excludes children under the age of 12 and passengers who have a moderate or severe disability,” says the latest Covid-19 advice on the Emirates website.

Etihad Airways, the second-largest airline and flag carrier of the UAE, after Emirates, has made the same announcement.

The UAE is the first to make such strict rules. With no end of Covid-19 in sight, we should make more adjustments and learn to live with the virus. Proof of Covid-19 status is one way to do that and something that will become more and more common.