Coronavirus-related travel news continues to make headlines around the world. From the UK’s latest red and green list shakeups to exciting news from Saudi Arabia for Formula 1 fans, here are some of the major travel news highlights last week.
Seven countries moved to UK Green List
Seven countries have been moved to the green list in accordance with the latest COVID assessments of the UK government. Conversely, Thailand and Montenegro have been moved from amber to red list due to the recent spike observed in both countries.
The seven countries that moved to the green list are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, and Switzerland. As of 4 AM, August 30 travellers from these countries will no longer have to quarantine on arrival.
Saudi F1 race promises to be a game-changer
With less than a hundred days until the highly-anticipated Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix is set to ignite, the circuit designer of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit claims the race will offer “something the world has never seen before.”
Carsten Tilke, the man tasked with designing and constructing the Jeddah F1 circuit, has promised that the circuit will have the highest average speed of any street track at around 252 kilometers per hour.
Upon completion, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit will feature a challenging 27 turns and a number of high-speed straights providing ample opportunities for racers to overtake one another.
Bali postpones reopening due to unfavorable conditions
The Indonesian island of Bali has yet again announced its reopening postponement due to the rise in COVID-19 cases on the island, mostly among the unvaccinated locals.
Indonesian authorities had earlier planned for an end of July, beginning of August Bali reopening in an effort to restore the island’s battered tourism industry. However, as COVID spikes have been readily observed on the island, officials have stated they are left with little choice but to wait until the situation becomes more conducive.
Hawaii’s governor pleads for tourists to stay away
Governor of Hawaii, Mr David Ige, urges would-be visitors to stay away amid the growing spread of the highly transmissible delta variant and climbing hospitalization rate on the islands.
Mr Ige continues to point out that visiting Hawaii in the current condition should only be done for essential and business purposes for the time being. However, the Governor has not yet imposed any sort of ban or restriction for non-residents still looking to visit the Hawaiian islands.
The EU to reimpose entry ban on US travellers
The council of Europe is reportedly discussing the possibility of reimposing travel restrictions for US travellers as well as travellers from five other third countries, namely Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. The travel restriction will be reinstated due to the alarming COVID developments in the aforementioned countries.
Being removed from the safe travel list means that all 27 member states of the EU will be advised to restrict entry for travellers arriving for non-essential purposes such as tourism and business.
