US lifts global travel restrictions
The US State Department has lifted the global ‘do not travel’ advisory after more than four months; meanwhile the UK adds Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra to its travel exclusion list
The US State Department issued the ‘Level 4: Do Not Travel’ advisory on 19 March, warning US citizens not to travel overseas due to risks imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A note issued on 6 August by the State Department read: "With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the Department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice (with Levels from 1-4 depending on country-specific conditions), in order to give travellers detailed and actionable information to make informed travel decisions.
"This will also provide US citizens more detailed information about the current status in each country. We continue to recommend US citizens exercise caution when traveling abroad due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic."
Meanwhile in the UK, the government have announced that anyone arriving from Belgium, the Bahamas or Andorra must quarantine for 14 days, and have also advised against travel to any of these countries.
The advice will apply from 8 August for travellers returning to England, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Anyone returning to Wales should already be following this advice.
The move comes after recorded Covid-19 cases in the three countries jumped four- or five-fold – and follows similar restrictions brought in for Spain and Luxembourg over the last couple of weeks.
Elsewhere, the Maldives has announced that it will be reopening most of its resorts by October. The country’s borders re-opened on 15 July. Now, the Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) said that 146 of the 156 resorts in the country should reopen by the end of October, abiding by new health and safety measures.
MMPRC said 43 resorts are already open, including Lux North Male Atoll, Oblu by Atmosphere, Soneva Fushi, Angsana Resort & Spa, Varu by Atmosphere, Jumeirah Vittaveli, Velaa Private Island and both of Four Seasons’ resorts in the country.