Dubai reopens to tourists on 7 July – but with strict new rules

Any arrival testing positive for Covid-19 will be isolated ‘at an institutional facility provided by the government for 14 days at their own expense’

Distant dream: Dubai before the coronavirus crisis (Simon Calder)

One of the world’s leading tourist destinations and air hubs will reopen to visitors from 7 July – but with strict new rules.

Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates suddenly closed to travellers on 25 March, with flights abruptly halted.

Now the emirate’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management says that residents can start returning home from today.

Citizens and residents will be permitted to travel overseas from tomorrow, “provided the destination countries agree to receive them.” And tourists are allowed back in from the first Tuesday in July.

But all arrivals will be required to produce a medical certificate showing a negative Covid-19 test result within the past four days – or undergo a mandatory PCR test at the Dubai airports.

Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 will be isolated “at an institutional facility provided by the government for 14 days at their own expense”.

Beaches reopened in Dubai at the weekend, with strict social-distancing measures.

“Beach-goers are required to maintain a distance of two metres between one another, along with their sun-beds, while there should be a gap of four metres between two groups of people and their sun-beds on the beach,” says Dubai’s Department of Tourism.

Dubai previously welcomed around 1.5 million British tourists each year. Millions more change planes in the city, which is the hub for Emirates. After the UAE’s skies were abruptly closed, tens of thousands of UK travellers were stranded abroad.

Every new arrival to Dubai will have their temperature taken on arrival.

The average temperature in Dubai in July is 41C (106F).