Qatar Airways has temporarily suspended reservations from the UAE, at a time when Britain and other countries have taken measures to prevent arrivals from the Gulf country due to the outbreak of the Corona virus in it, especially the city of Dubai, after the celebrations of Christmas and New Year's Day.

In a tweet posted Friday on Twitter, Qatar Airways announced that it has temporarily suspended operations for new reservations from the UAE for the next seven days.

Because of the concerns of the British government related to the transmission of the Corona virus.

The company said reservations were temporarily suspended from South Africa and Rwanda, with exceptions that include citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council countries and holders of residency permits.

The decision comes at a time when Britain announced that it would prevent entry to those from the Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda countries, as of Friday afternoon, for fear of the spread of the South African strain of the virus, according to the Associated Press.

In a tweet on Twitter, the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development stated that this decision excludes the British, Irish and citizens of other nationalities who have residency in the United Kingdom.

But she stressed the need for these people to commit to self-isolation for 10 days in their homes upon their return to Britain.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quoted British Health Minister Matt Hancock as saying that traveling to places including Dubai for weekends would be against the law.

The decision to add the UAE to the list of countries from which travel is prohibited comes in light of British officials confirming that the travel of citizens to Dubai for entertainment has contributed to the spread of the epidemic in their country.

Dubai witnessed a significant increase in the number of Coronavirus cases (Reuters)


Other countries And other


countries - including Denmark and the Philippines - announced earlier that they had detected on their soil the British and South African strains of travelers who came from Dubai.

And Denmark - which requires proof of the safety of those coming to it from the Corona virus - announced about 10 days ago the suspension of flights coming from the UAE for a period of 5 days, after suspicion of false results of Corona tests in Dubai.

On Thursday, the American news site AXIOS reported that the UAE had complained to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the chief Israeli epidemiologist, Sharon Elroy Price, said that the Corona virus infection had moved from Dubai to Israel, indicating that Netanyahu's advisers had apologized for these statements.

Israeli officials had said that 900 Israelis were infected with the virus while they were in Dubai late last year, noting that these had transmitted the infection to about 4 thousand Israelis.

Since late December, the Israeli authorities have imposed on those returning from the UAE to be subject to a two-week quarantine.

The Associated Press said that during the last 17 days, the UAE recorded record numbers of Coronavirus infections, indicating that queues of people increased in front of testing centers in Dubai.

She added that, with daily injuries rising to about 4,000, the Dubai government sacked its chief health official, without explaining the reason for his dismissal.