The Overseas Situation Report Monday 9 August 2021
by Mike Evans
“You Can’t Stop The Waves, But You Can Learn To Surf”
– Jon Kabat-Zinn
With the number of new cases set to rise and bring the total number of cases to 20 million across the world there is worry in Europe about the rise in cases in the younger age group. As we get into the height of the summer The European Union’s Council is set to review the list of epidemiologically safe third world countries. Based on this list Member States are advised to remove the entry ban for the residents of these countries.
The EU Council’s list of epidemiologically safe third-countries is a list of non-EU/EEA countries that are considered safe amid the Coronavirus pandemic, due to the low rates of infections.
The idea of creating such a list derives from the EU Commission’s proposal for the EU member states to reopen their borders gradually and partially for non-essential travel from outside the block after an EU-wide entry ban had been in place since mid-March.
The ‘safe list’ is reviewed periodically and adjusted depending on the latest Coronavirus developments in each country. The member states are not legally bound in applying it, but they should base their own national lists on this one.
A number of different sources have confirmed to various news outlets that the block is looking into the possibility of bringing back the entry ban on travellers from the US since it no longer meets the conditions to be part of the appoved list and after an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases detected in its territory.
The United States was added to the list on June 18, alongside several other countries, including Albania and North Macedonia, after they met the condition of having less than four per cent of positive tests among all COVID-19 tests carried out in the previous seven days, and a stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days, among other conditions. The latest list was set on the 15th July and it is expected that a new update will be announced very soon.
However, the sources say that the threshold to be included in the EU’s list of epidemiologically safe third countries is after the country has surpassed the limit of no more than 75 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the previous 14 days. Recently the EU has widely criticized the US authorities for refusing to remove the travel ban on arrivals from the Schengen Area countries and Ireland. President Ursula von der Leyen, of the European Commssion, stated that the EU and US are in the same conditions in terms of the COVID-19 situation, and as such, it does not make any sense for the US to continue keeping the ban in place.
On Thursday, White House sources have, however, revealed that the US is working on a plan through which it would become mandatory for incoming travellers to be vaccinated against the Coronavirus in order to be eligible to enter the territory of the United States. The same source has claimed that the plan is in the very first phases of development, and it will include “a phased approach that over time will mean, with limited exceptions, that foreign nationals travelling to the United States (from all countries) need to be fully vaccinated.”
Though the plan is not good news for travellers from countries like Canada and Australia, who for now can travel to the US regardless of their vaccination status, it is good news for travellers from the EU as it means that the majority of them will finally be able to travel to the US.
Meanwhile another EU department, the ECDC, (European Centre for Disease Control) has placed several regions of France in the dark red category. The French regions that have been placed on the dark red category of the ECDC’s map are as follows: Midi-Pyrénées, Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
Such a decision was announced today, on August 5, and means that all travel to and from one of the three French regions mentioned above is highly discouraged. However, ECDC has emphasised that essential travel should still be permitted as long as the travellers follow the country’s restrictions and are especially careful during their stay. Based on the data provided by ECDC, the French regions were placed in the dark red category after they identified more than 500 Coronavirus infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the last 14 days.
In addition, even though these three regions have been added to the ECDC’s dark red category, individual member countries are responsible for deciding whether they want to impose measures against persons returning or travelling from one of the regions. France opened its borders for vaccinated travellers from several European Union Member States and third countries back in June, without obliging them to undergo testing or self-isolation requirements.
However, as the epidemiological situation worsened in France, several countries decided to impose restrictions against arrivals from the country. Just recently, the Cypriot authorities announced that since August 2, all unvaccinated travellers arriving from France are subject to double testing. This means that they are required to carry out a PCR test within 72 hours before departure and another test upon arrival in Cyprus.
European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has announced through its latest update that several European countries and regions are now part of the green list since they registered low COVID-19 infection rates during the last two weeks. As such, according to the data provided by ECDC, the following countries/regions are now part of the green list: Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Regions of Norway: Rogaland, Telemark, Vestfold, Oslo, Buskerud, Østfold, Akershus, Oppland, Hedmark, Sør-Trøndelag, Nord-Trøndelag, Nordland.
Others included on the green list are: Regions of Croatia: Middle Croatia, Slavonia, Regions of Italy: Apulia, Molise, Aosta Valley. The placement of these areas in the green list was announced on August 5 and means that travel to and from one of the countries/regions mentioned above is no longer discouraged by ECDC. Such a decision to place the countries/regions mentioned above in the green list was made after the same identified less than 75 COVID-19 infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the last 14 days and had a test positivity rate of less than one per cent.
Finally and still in Europe, travellers from several more European Union and Schengen Area countries are subject to the requirement of negative COVID-19 test results when visiting Denmark, starting on August 7 2021.
The decision was announced by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 6, after the same updated the entry restrictions related to the Coronavirus pandemic, based on the latest infection figures from the Statens Serum Institute.
According to a press release issued by the same Ministry, Switzerland and the region of Sardinia in Italy are now in the yellow category. At the same time, more regions in Belgium, France, and Greece have turned yellow, which means that all these three countries are now completely yellow. Travellers in the yellow category who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 and those who haven’t previously been infected with the virus are subject to the double testing requirement, which means that they have to present negative test results for COVID-19, and also test upon arrival.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, the Danish authorities have also advised Danish citizens to avoid travelling to the Czech Republic and Estonia as both these countries have significant entry restrictions in place for travellers from Denmark.
Travel to Turkey is highly discouraged, in particular for persons who are not vaccinated and who haven’t previously been infected with COVID-19, as the number of infected travellers from this country to Denmark has spiked up.
So if you are due to travel anywhere soon please make sure you check the relevant country’s website for the latest travel update as these rules change regularly.
Until the next time Stay Safe.
Total Cases Worldwide – 203,178,712
Total Deaths Worldwide – 4,304,129
Total Recovered Worldwide – 182,540,28
Total Active Cases Worldwide – 16,334,298 (8.0 % of the total cases)
Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 186,844,414
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