Hong Kong is its flight ban on nine countries from 1 April, and will reduce quarantine from 14 days to 7 days. Photo Credit: Gettyimages/Terry Cheng
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Shanghai has just this week entered a two-stage lockdown, with districts on one side of the Huangpu River locked down between 28 March and 1 April, and on the other side between 1 April and 5 April. This latest lockdown is a stark reminder that international travel plans can be disrupted at a moment’s notice. As Shanghai shuts down, which destinations are welcoming back visitors for now?
Malaysia is reopening its borders on 1 April, with all fully-vaccinated travellers allowed to enter the country without undergoing quarantine, but they must show a negative PCR result from a test taken no more than two days before departure, and take a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of arriving in Malaysia.
Hong Kong is lifting some of its current flight bans on 1 April as well as reducing quarantine from 14 days to 7 days, as long as travellers return a negative PCR test on the fifth day and via rapid antigen tests on the sixth and seventh day of their stay. Flights bans will be removed from 9 countries: these include Canada, India, Pakistan, Nepal, the UK, the United States, France, Australia and the Philippines.
Singapore is allowing fully vaccinated travellers from all countries to enter quarantine-free from 1 April. This is also the case in South Korea, where those who have completed their Covid-19 vaccinations will be exempt from mandatory quarantine.
New Zealand is allowing vaccinated visitors from visa waiver countries, and visitors from other countries who already hold a valid visitor visa, to enter New Zealand and self-test on arrival from May 1. Visa waiver countries include Singapore and Malaysia.
In Thailand the government has hinted that it may remove all current travel restrictions by 1 June, which means travellers will no longer need to undergo quarantine, abide by Test & Go rules or limit their visits to the destination’s ‘Sandbox’ zones, designated areas that foreign travellers can visit without undergoing quarantine.
Japan’s borders remain closed to tourists, with no set dates as yet for when they may reopen.