The Government of Botswana implements new measures in relation to travel and the COVID-19 outbreak
17 March 2020
Kenya implements travel ban.
The Kenyan government announced the travel ban following confirmation of three cases of COVID-19 in the country. Entry for people coming from any country with reported COVID-19 cases, including South Africa, is not permitted.
Only Kenyan citizens and foreigners with valid residence permits will be allowed to enter, provided they proceed to self-quarantine or go to a government-designated quarantine facility. All people who have entered the country in the last 14 days have also been ordered to self-quarantine.
The ban may be in effect for at least 2 weeks from 17 March 2020.
Arrivals in Hong Kong to be subject to 14-day quarantine period.
Hong Kong will quarantine arrivals in the city for 14 days from midnight on 19 March 2020 to manage and prevent the spread of COVID-19. The new restrictions will not apply to arrivals from mainland China, Macau and Taiwan.
Canada implements travel ban.
Canada announced yesterday that the country would bar entry to foreign travellers from 18 March 2020. Exceptions include citizens, aircrew, diplomats, immediate family members of citizens and US citizens.
17 March 2020
All individuals coming to Botswana from the following high-risk countries will not be allowed entry: China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, USA, UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and India.
Batswana and residents returning from high-risk countries will be subjected to 14-day mandatory quarantine as per protocol. Issuance of Visa at Ports of entry and at all Embassies for any person from high-risk areas is suspended with immediate effect. Current visas are cancelled with immediate effect until further notice.
Mauritian authorities have extended travel restrictions to Mauritius
With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic to an increasing number of countries, the Mauritian government has extended travel restrictions to Mauritius.
- Effective as of Monday 16 March 2020 and up until 30 March 2020, foreign nationals having resided or with a history of travel from Reunion Island in the last 14 days will not be allowed entry or transit in the Republic of Mauritius (including Rodrigues Island).
- Effective as of Wednesday 18 March 2020 and until 1 April 2020, any foreign national having resided in or who has travelled to and from any member state of the European Union, United Kingdom. Ireland and Switzerland within the last 14 days will not be allowed entry or be permitted to transit in the Republic of Mauritius.
Mauritian nationals, residents, their spouse and children falling under the categories in paragraph 1 and 2 will be allowed entry in the Republic of Mauritius and will be placed in quarantine.
UAE and Qatar suspend the issuance of visas from 17 March 2020.
The United Arab Emirates and Qatar have announced restrictions on visas, as part of measures to contain the new coronavirus outbreak. The UAE will suspend visa issuance starting March 17; foreign diplomats would be exempted. Qatar has stopped the issuance of visas on arrival to several European nationalities as of 15 March 2020. The decision does not apply to persons who have already been issued visas before the effective date.
We understand that these are challenging times, and we are here to support you in any way possible. We are proactively contacting our customers to assist with changes to their immediate travel. Should you have any questions, please contact your dedicated Travel Expert.
Call volumes may be higher than usual, and our Travel Experts are assisting customers with bookings in order of date of departure (immediate departures over the next 14 days).
You can locate their details on your travel documentation or HERE
