Fully-vaccinated travellers are now required to present their vaccination certificates upon arrival to Egypt, provided they have electronic certificates that are verified using a QR code, the Health Ministry said in a statement yesterday. This comes a week after we reported that people who have had two doses of a vaccine no longer need to have PCR tests when entering the country, provided they received their second shot at least two weeks before the flight.

What happens to people flying from countries that aren’t using QR code-based certificates? We’re still not entirely sure whether border authorities are accepting alternate types of certificate. This was an issue brought up by Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi last night, who asked (rhetorically) whether travellers from countries such as the US would be barred from entering the country — CDC certificates do not presently include QR codes. She suggested that this could jeopardize the recovery of the tourism sector and called on the government to reconsider the rules (watch, runtime: 3:09).

Egypt’s daily covid infection rate plunged to a low we haven’t seen since November, falling to 261 yesterday from 376 the day before, according to Health Ministry figures. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 281,031 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 23 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 16,148.

Abu Dhabi will soon ban unvaccinated people from entering most public spaces after more than 93% of target groups in the emirate received their shots, the government said in a statement on Monday. The ban, which goes into effect on 20 August, will apply to shopping centers, restaurants, gyms, recreational facilities, schools, resorts, sports activities and all retail outlets. The only public place unvaccinated people may enter are retail locations that sell “essential goods such as supermarkets and pharmacies.” The restrictions will not apply to individuals with approved exemptions from immunization or those aged below 16.

The Moderna jab could be ready to take on the delta variant: Moderna has said that its covid-19 jab produces neutralizing antibodies against the highly-contagious delta variant and other emerging strains of concern, with a “modest reduction” compared to the original covid strain. While not yet peer-reviewed, the results are raising hopes that the jab will prove effective against the delta strain that is spreading across Africa, Europe and parts of Asia.

A number of countries in Asia are responding to delta with fresh lockdowns: Several cities in Australia are in lockdown, Bangladesh has introduced a curfew, Malaysia has extended its lockdown and Hong Kong has banned flights from Britain, as countries in the region try to curb delta’s spread, the New York Times reports.

The delta variant has also been detected in at least 13 of Africa’s 54 nations, and is threatening to become the worst episode of the outbreak for the continent.