Dubai removed from Travel Corridor

Only two months after Dubai was added to the UK travel corridor list, it has been removed with immediate effect following the announcement today. Anyone arriving from Dubai into the UK from 4am tomorrow morning will be required to self-isolate for 10 days on their return.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted to say a 52% rise in new coronavirus cases meant the decision to remove the destination had to be taken “immediately”. A statement from the Department for Transport said: “The decision has been made following a significant acceleration in the number of imported cases, along with the number of reported new cases over the past seven days, which have risen in the UAE by 52%.”

This announcement should probably not come as a surprise. Over 40,000 Brits flocked to the Gulf Emirate over the Christmas holidays as evidenced by the images of lengthy queues at Dubai airport shared by social media users. With the sheer number of people coming to the tiny emirate, it was inevitable the Covid cases in Dubai would rise.

Dubai is still a lot safer than the UK when it comes to chances of catching Covid 19 and it is inevitable that many people will be planning holidays to Dubai as soon as lockdown restrictions in the UK are lifted regardless of whether or not the destination is added back to the list of travel corridors.