The UAE could temporarily ban entry to arrivals from India from April 25 onwards (Sunday) due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, according to media reports. However, an official confirmation from the UAE government is awaited.

Times of India, reported that the ban will be imposed for a period of 10 days from April 25 till May 3.

UAE's state-owned carriers Emirates and Etihad are yet to release any official advisory regarding flights to and from India, but other airlines have advised passengers that effective today, incoming passengers should present a negative RT-PCR test report with QR Code on it.

"Passengers who have transited through India in the last 14 days are also not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE," Gulf News reported citing sources.

According to data from the Indian health ministry, 2,104 people died on Thursday at the time of reporting, taking the cumulative toll to 184,657. The country also recorded the world’s highest daily tally of COVID-19 cases, at 314,835.

Health officials are finding it difficult to tackle the situation with the existing infrastructure, and six hospitals in the capital city of New Delhi have reportedly run out of oxygen.

"Passengers flying from India to Dubai have to carry a negative RT-PCR test report with QR code on it. The test should have been conducted within 48 hours of flight departure. Please note that the QR code is mandatory on the test report," India's Spice Jet said in a notification.

(Writing by Seban Scaria, additional inputs from Cleofe Maceda; editing by Anoop Menon)

Seban.scaria@refinitiv.com 

Cleofe.maceda@refinitiv.com

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