U.K. Drops UAE From Travel Corridor List as Virus Cases Surge

Britain removed the United Arab Emirates from its travel corridor list on Monday amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the Gulf nation.

Starting from 4am on Tuesday, people returning to the U.K. from the UAE will have to self-isolate for 10 days, Britain’s travel department said in a statement. “The decision has been made following a significant acceleration in the number of imported cases, along with the number of reported new cases over the past seven days, which have risen in the UAE by 52%.”

Cases in the UAE averaged about 1,200 a day over the past couple of months, but infections started to spike at the end of December and the country reported a record 2,998 cases on Jan. 9.

Dubai-London Heathrow remains the busiest international route this month, according to flight-bookings specialist OAG, most likely driven by the travel corridor introduced late last year. Travelers from the U.K. have been flying to Dubai in droves to escape the lockdown, boosting tourism in the Middle East’s business hub.

Emirates currently serves London Heathrow with five daily flights, of which four are operated with an Airbus SE A380, according to the airline’s website. The world’s largest-long haul carrier also operates 10 flights a week to Manchester, and daily flights to Birmingham and Glasgow.

— With assistance by Greg Tanner

Portugal Reports Record Number of Daily New Coronavirus Cases

Portugal on Wednesday reported the biggest daily increase in confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the outbreak.

There were 14,647 new cases in a day, more than the previous record of 10,947 announced on Saturday, taking the total to 581,605.

• The government reported 219 fatalities in a day, more than the previous record of 218 on Tuesday, taking the total to 9,465 deaths.
• The number of patients in intensive-care units rose by 11 to 681. The country’s national health service has a capacity of about 1,200 intensive-care beds.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced stricter confinement rules on Monday, including limiting travel between municipalities on weekends, as he tries to contain the spread of the pandemic. So far the government has kept schools open. Portugal started tightening restrictions again at the end of December after easing some rules during the Christmas weekend.

Economy Minister Pedro Siza Vieira, who has been in quarantine since Saturday, tested positive for Covid-19, the government said late on Tuesday. Finance Minister Joao Leao also tested positive for Covid-19, the finance ministry said on Saturday, a day after he attended meetings with European Commission officials in Lisbon.

Twitter Users Celebrate Donald Trump’s Last Day In Office With Plenty Of Snark

President Donald Trump’s last day in office was predictably met with a lot of snark on Twitter, the platform he was booted from earlier this month after inciting the U.S. Capitol riot.

Tweeters gleefully counted down the final hours of Trump’s presidency with mocking images and videos. Many used festive analogies to explain their anticipation of Trump being replaced by President-elect Joe Biden.

“It feels a bit like Christmas Eve, but you already know what you’ll get when you open the present,” veteran journalist Dan Rather wrote. “A restoration of American democracy, decency, and hope.”

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Inauguration 2021: Read Live Updates As Joe Biden Takes Office

Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday during an inaugural ceremony scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing security concerns due to right-wing groups provoked by Biden’s predecessor.

Kamala Harris will also be sworn in today, making history as the first female vice president, as well as the first Black and Asian American vice president.

President Donald Trump departs Washington for his Mar-a-Lago resort in the morning, with his last flight on Air Force One taking place before Biden’s swearing-in at noon. Trump has spent months denying the 2020 election results and spreading lies about voter fraud, eventually pushing his supporters to “fight like hell” in a speech that incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Read live updates on Biden’s inauguration below. (Note: An ad blocker may prevent you from seeing the blog, so if you’re using one, please pause or turn it off.)

Dole Fresh Recalls Sesame Asian Chopped Salad Kit

Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. is recalling a limited number of cases of Dole Sesame Asian Chopped Salad Kit citing the possible presence of undeclared eggs, an allergen, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The recall involves Chopped Salad kit with UPC code 0-71430-00035-9 and best if used by date of 01-15-21. The lot codes of the product are B364016 and B364017. No other Dole products are included in the recall.

The impacted products were distributed in nine states, including AK, CA, ID, KS, MO, OK, OR, TX and UT.

The agency noted that the dressing and topping kit (masterpack) designed for a different Dole product was unintentionally used during a portion of the production of the salad.

People who have an allergy to eggs may have a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the recalled product or products containing eggs.

However, the company has not received reports of any illnesses or allergic reactions to date in association with the recall.

Dole Fresh is coordinating closely with regulatory officials.

In similar incidents involving undeclared allergens, Lipari Foods, LLC this week recalled its 9 ounce packages of Backroad Country Spicy Cajun Mix as they contain undeclared milk.

Courage Production LLC also called back 1,645 pounds of Ready-To-Eat, fully cooked Polish sausage products due to misbranding and undeclared milk.