INDIANS CAN TRAVEL THESE COUNTRIES FROM NEXT WEEK

Canada

1. The Public Health Agency of Canada announced on July 3 that they will ease travel restrictions only for citizens and permanent residents of the country. The move is aimed at facilitating international students, relatives of permanent residents, and temporary workers with a valid work permit.

2. All travellers, including Indians, have to mandatorily provide a negative Covid-19 test report taken within 72 hours (3 days) before their entry to Canada.

3. Those entering into the country must be vaccinated with both the doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. At the moment, the Canadian government accepts Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Covishield, and Johnson and Johnson vaccines. It is to be noted that India’s indigenous vaccine Covaxin and Russian-made Sputnik V haven’t been given a nod by Canada yet.

4. Those who haven’t been fully vaccinated or has been inoculated with a vaccine yet to be approved by Canada, must quarantine themselves for three days at a government-approved hotel while waiting for their report of a Covid-19 test done on arrival at the airport.

5. Travellers who have previously contracted the virus need to mandatorily provide proof of Covid-19 test conducted between 14-90 days prior to their entry to Canada.

The Maldives

1. Flight services to the island nation will resume on July 15.

2. Go First, earlier known as GoAir, will operate flights from New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to the island nation’s capital Male. The airline will begin its flight services with a bi-weekly schedule (Thursday and Sunday) and then add two more flights on August 4 (Wednesday and Sunday) before eventually operating daily flights from September 3 onward.

3. IndiGo has also announced direct flights from Kochi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Flights from Kochi and Bengaluru will start from July 15 onward on Thursdays, while the ones from Mumbai will start from July 16 on Fridays and Saturdays. From July 20 onwards, direct flights between Mumbai and Male will operate daily.

4. Travellers have to mandatorily carry a negative RT-PCR test, and also reportedly submit a health declaration form on the Maldives immigration portal 24 hours before departure from their home country.

5. No mandatory isolation or test is reportedly required on arrival.

Germany

1. German ambassador to India, Walter J Lindner, announced on Tuesday that the country has lifted a ban from five Delta variant-affected nations, including India.

2. Indian travellers, who have been administered with both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine or who can show proof of recovering from the virus, will not be required to isolate themselves on their arrival or return to Germany.

3. The change comes after a Delta variant-induced second wave of Covid-19 in India triggered a high daily caseload in India between April to May. At this time, Germany had banned entry of Indian travellers as a preventive measure.

4. The new development comes after Germany downgraded India from ‘virus variant countries’ to ‘high-incidence areas’. Notably, the Delta variant first emerged in India in October 2020.

5. Germany has also lifted a ban on travellers from Nepal, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Portugal — all of which were earlier listed under ‘virus variant countries’.