Mumbai: The UAE government on Friday prohibited its nationals from traveling to 14 countries, including India and Pakistan, in a major step to arrest the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) announced that its citizens are prohibited from travelling to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Namibia, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, South Africa, and Nigeria.
"Exempt from the decision are the UAE diplomatic missions in the aforementioned countries; emergency treatment cases; official delegations and previously authorised business and technical delegates," they said in a statement released to the UAE's official news agency WAM.
"In a joint statement marking the commencement of the peak travel season which coincides with the exceptional circumstances the world is going through currently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MoFAIC and NCEMA underlined the need for the UAE citizens to comply with all precautionary measures in general, particularly the COVID-19 countermeasures, and all other preventative protocols in place in their countries of destination," it said.
