Portugal has become the latest country to ban foreign travel, as the country faces the worst rise of Covid-19 cases out of anywhere in the world.
The ban covers all outbound and inbound international travel, except for those travelling for medical emergencies, goods transport, international professional activities, or to reunite families.
Portugal is currently the world’s worst-hit country for Covid-19 cases, relative to its population – reporting 828 cases per 100,000 over a 7-day average. Nearly half of the country’s 12,000 deaths occurred in January during the third wave of the virus.
The Portugal travel ban comes as a growing number of countries impose stricter measures on arrivals. Yesterday, France banned all non-EU arrivals. Any travel “to or from a country outside of the EU will be forbidden,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex. EU arrivals coming into France will need to show evidence of a negative PCR result, with the exception of cross-border commuters.
The UK has imposed strict restrictions on a number of ‘high risk’ countries, meaning arrivals from 33 countries including the UAE, Portugal and South Africa will soon have to spend their 10-day quarantine in a Government-approved hotel, at their own expense.
Over the weekend, Canadian Prime Minister suspended travel to the Caribbean and Mexico. “New variants of Covid-19 pose a real challenge to Canada,” said Mr Trudeau on Friday. “That’s why we need to take extra measures.”
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