Abu Dhabi updates testing, quarantine rules for residents and citizens returning from abroad

On Sunday, Abu Dhabi issued an updated set of Covid-19 testing and quarantine requirements for residents and citizens returning from travel abroad.

Effective July 5, the Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee said that vaccinated travellers arriving from green list destinations must take a PCR test on arrival. They do not need to to quarantine, but must repeat their PCR test on day 6 as well.

When arriving from destinations which are not on the green list, they must take a PCR test on arrival, quarantine for seven days and repeat a PCR test on day 6.

The protocol applies to vaccinated UAE citizens and residents who have received their second dose at least 28 days earlier, with the same documented in their Alhosn app.

As for unvaccinated citizens and residents arriving in Abu Dhabi from green list destinations, they must take a PCR test on arrival and will not need to to quarantine, but must repeat their PCR test on days 6 and 12 too. If they are arriving from destinations not on the green list, they must take a PCR test on arrival, quarantine for 12 days and take another PCR test on day 11.

On June 24, Abu Dhabi updated its green list of destinations to include 31 countries in all. While the European countries of Austria, Denmark, Italy, Norway and Sweden were added to the list, Cuba and Kyrgyzstan were removed from it.

Read: Abu Dhabi adds five new European countries to its ‘green list’

Abu Dhabi has also confirmed that starting from August 20, entry to a number of places in the emirate including shopping centres, restaurants, cafés, resorts, museums and theme parks, will be permitted only to those who have received their Covid-19 vaccine, with exemptions made for children aged 15 and under, and those with vaccination exemption certificates. Officials in the emirate have also launched a new Covid-19 contact tracing system, touted to be the first of its kind in the region, which uses a virtual chat system to identify recent contacts of those who test positive for the virus.

Read also: Abu Dhabi launches new Covid-19 contact tracing system

According to a Bloomberg report on Sunday, the UAE has become the world’s most vaccinated nation. It has administered over 15.5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, at a vaccine distribution rate of 156.76 doses per 100 people – enough to cover 72.1 per cent of its population of 10 million based on a two-dose regimen.

Read more: UAE passes Seychelles to become most vaccinated nation