Dubai: In a bid to contain the spread of COVID, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Wednesday announced a suspension on entry of passengers from Zambia, DR Congo and Uganda starting Friday (tomorrow).

As per details, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) noticed that travelers coming from these three countries contracted novel coronavirus before steping into UAE.

Authorities noted that some groups will be exempted from these measures, including UAE citizens and their first-degree relatives and accredited diplomatic missions between the UAE and the three countries.

The exempted groups also include official delegations and businessmen, holders of golden and silver residency, people with essential jobs according to the classification of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) and crews of foreign freight and transit flights.

The new restriction will not affect Transit and cargo flights and they will continue to operate.

However, other countries are required to handover a proof of a period of stay in those countries of no less than 14 days in order to be allowed to enter the UAE.

The required PCR testing period prior to travel has been reduced from 72 to 48 hours, and all tests must be administered by accredited laboratories that issue results carrying a QR code.

The excluded groups must follow all Covid-19 related Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which include a 10-day quarantine, a PCR test at the airport and PCR tests on day 4 and day 8 after entering the country.

Moreover, GACA called upon all travellers affected by the decision to contact the relevant airlines to reschedule their flights and ensure their safe return to their final destinations without delay.

This latest announcement comes after UAE suspended the entry of passengers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam recently.