The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has updated its quarantine-free travel green list to include the Maldives and 30 other destinations.
The new destinations added to the list include Bahrain, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic in addition to the Maldives. Travelers from the destinations can travel to UAE and will not have to self-isolate on arrival in Abu Dhabi, effective from July 31. However, passengers arriving from any of the countries or states must take a PCR test on arrival in Abu Dhabi.
Although the Maldives has been included in UAE's Green List, no other South Asian countries were added to the list. Therefore, the chance of using the Maldives as a quarantine center for those seeking to travel to the UAE from South Asia will increase. A large number of Indian citizens who wished to travel to Gulf countries previously used the Maldives as a quarantine center in a similar manner, due to which COVID-19 cases in the Maldives soared significantly.
The COVID-19 situation in the Maldives has improved over the past few weeks, and the Maldives has resumed issuing visas to South Asian travelers after a hiatus. However, a negative PCR test result with a sample taken within 92 hours prior to departure from the first port of embarkation is still necessary to enter the Maldives.
