Other countries required to take an additional PCR test on arrival include Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, and Tunisia from the Middle East.

The list also includes Angola, DR Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, the Ivory Coast, Somaliland, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Liberia, and Tanzania from Africa.

Afghanistan, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Georgia, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam are also on the list.

Passengers from these countries will have to remain in their hotel or residence until they receive the test results and will be required to undergo isolation if the results are positive, the airline said.

Earlier, the airline said travellers from Egypt, Indonesia, and Vietnam must submit coronavirus test results with QR codes.

Passengers from all countries to Dubai have to submit COVID‑19 test certificates with negative results, Emirates Airlines wrote on its website, affirming that tests have to be taken no more than 72 hours before departure.

The certificates must be a Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test, the airline said, noting that other forms of tests are not accepted in the Emirati capital.

The RT-PCR test is a laboratory test commonly used to detect coronavirus infections.

On 1 January, Abu Dhabi updated its green list, allowing 71 countries to enter the emirate without the need to quarantine.

The green list includes only three African countries: Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria.

The UAE also announced that it is barring unvaccinated citizens from travelling abroad starting 10 January.

The UAE has witnessed a significant surge in coronavirus cases over the past month, recording 2,581 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday 4 January, up from only 51 cases on 4 December.