The Covid-19 pandemic does not seem willing to take a break. Analogically to a sine wave, there are many ups and downs in terms of infections worldwide. And at this very moment, many popular travel destinations are registering a steep upward trend in this context.
These countries include European travel destinations like Cyprus or Turkey, with the latter having recently reached a number of over 60,000 infections per day. Luxury destinations like the Bahamas, the Maldives and Costa Rica are currently also struggling with a rise in infections.
Turkey: Strict Lockdown to Save the Summer Season
The situation in Turkey is very worrying. As mentioned, over 60,000 new infections per day were registered not long ago. For this reason, President Erdogan has announced a “comprehensive lockdown”.
Under these measures, all businesses, including restaurants and cafes, have to close by May 17th. Citizens are only allowed to leave their home for compelling reasons, such as shopping. Travel between cities is only possible with permission.
The aim of this lockdown is to save this year’s summer season, considering how popular Turkey is as a destination for many tourists from Europe and Russia. Erdogan wants to reduce the number of infections to a minimum in good time for the main season so that the tourism fiasco (-70% in tourism inflow) from last summer does not repeat itself.
Costa Rica and the Maldives with All-time High Numbers
In Costa Rica, a very sought-after destination in recent months, Covid-related hospitalizations are at an all-time high, according to the World Health Organization. The Central American country is not yet advanced in terms of vaccination (so far only seniors have been vaccinated) and is now ramping up Covid measures accordingly.
As for the Maldives, the total number of infections is low because of its small population, but high in relation to the total population. The latest numbers show a high increase in the number of cases (386 new cases in one day last week), although it must be noted that only 6 of these were recorded on resort islands.
Thailand and Tunisia Tightening the Screws
In general, the fear of the mutated variants seems to be causing fear in other countries as well. Another popular travel destination to react is Thailand. The country is tightening the screws again after the number of Covid cases rose significantly in April. The hotels on Phuket are now closed again, nor can one move freely between individual provinces.
Tunisia is also imposing stricter restrictions as a result of a worsened situation. The Tunisian government has decided that from May 3 all foreign visitors will have to undergo a seven-day quarantine, with additional PCR tests being carried out on the 5th and 7th day.