The Overseas Situation Report Tuesday 8 February 2022

by Mike Evans

“Patience is also a form of action”

– Auguste Rodin

As Portugal eased the requirements for vaccinated travellers to enter Portugal this report is looking at what travel restrictions are in place and where some are being eased as the pandemic gets less severe.

For many the big news of the week is that Australia is to reopen its international border to fully vaccinated travellers from the 21st of February 2022 after almost two years of closure. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said after new medical advice, the new border rules would come into place on February 21.

“The condition is you must be double vaccinated to come to Australia,” he said. “That’s the rule. Everyone is expected to abide by it.”

The news will be welcomed by tourism bodies, which have been crying out for movement on the border closure that has hampered some businesses. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said unvaccinated travellers would still need to apply for a travel exemption to come to Australia and must undergo hotel quarantine if they were granted permission to enter the country.

Mr Morrison said the government’s definition was that people need to have a full course of a vaccine, which in most cases is two doses but for some international vaccines is only one, to be considered vaccinated. For example, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine — which is approved for use in Australia — involves only one dose.

The expert panel on vaccines, ATAGI, has flagged though that it is considering whether to still use the term “fully vaccinated” or instead move to “up to date with vaccinations” like is used with childhood vaccines. If the definition is changed, it could mean that booster shots are included when considering if someone is “up to date” or not.

Mr Morrison made it clear, with a reference to the recent Novak Djokovic saga, that even if people had the correct visa to enter Australia, if they were not fully vaccinated — or had an exemption — they would not be allowed to enter.

“I think events earlier in the year should have sent a very clear message to everyone around the world that (that) is the requirement to enter into Australia,” he said.

Meanwhile closer to home in neighbouring Spain, The Spanish Ministry of Health has extended travel restrictions on travellers from the other European Union and Schengen Area countries for another week, until February 13, due to the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 infection in the bloc.

Updating the list of European risk areas, the Ministry has explained that the list will remain unchanged for another week. Part of it are the following EU/Schengen countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden.

If you come from a country/zone at risk in relation to COVID-19, you must present a certificate or document proving vaccination, diagnostic test for active infection (PDIA), or recovery from COVID-19. These certificates will be different if they have been issued in a country of the European Union (EU Digital COVID Certificate) or in a third country,” the Ministry explains regarding travel from countries in the EU which are listed as risk countries. It also points out that since February 1, travellers who haven’t received a COVID-19 booster dose must pay attention to the validity of their vaccinated certificates. Those who have been vaccinated before mid-May 2021 must take their booster shots and renew their vaccination certificates in order to be eligible to travel to Spain restriction-free.

The Spanish authorities continue to consider as high-risk countries all third countries except for: China (including administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao) Indonesia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Regarding travellers from other third countries, which Spain lists as high-risk areas, they have to present their SpTH QR code together with a vaccination or recovery certificate as well as negative COVID-19 results of a test performed pre-departure.

Residents of these countries can travel to Spain with a vaccination certificate against COVID-19, a negative test performed within 72h(NAAT) / 24h(RAT) prior to arrival, or a certificate of recovery from COVID-19. Since last week, only negative results of Coronavirus antigen tests were that performed 24 hours before a traveller’s arrival in Spain will be accepted for entry into the country, instead of 48 hours as they have been accepted up until now. The QR code is obtained when completing the Sanitary Control Form through the Spanish Health portal, pre-departure. Completing the form is obligatory for all sea and air travellers. It is not mandatory to present the document for those reaching Spain by land.

In Germany, the country has followed the recommendation of the European Commission and have decided to shorten the validity of vaccination certificates to 270 days. The new rule on the vaccination passes entered into force on February 1 and affects everyone travelling within the EU. In line with this proposed rule, persons who reach Germany need to provide valid proof that they have received the last vaccine dose (of a two-dose vaccination scheme) within the last 270 days in order to be exempt from additional entry measures, such as testing and quarantine requirement.

It is believed that persons who have been vaccinated more than 270 days ago will be considered unvaccinated when reaching Germany if they haven’t yet received a booster shot.

Nonetheless, the German authorities haven’t yet given any information regarding booster doses and the corresponding interval times. Booster shot refers to the third vaccine that is given to persons who have already completed primary vaccination.

Apart from this change, Germany has also shortened the validity of recovery certificates. According to the German responsible body for disease prevention and control, Robert Koch Institute (RKI), recovery certificates are now valid for only a period of 90 days. Previously, recovery certificates were valid for 180 days. However, according to the German authorities, unvaccinated persons who have been infected with the virus are only temporarily protected from the disease. For this reason, they have decided to shorten its validity.

“The duration of the recovered status was reduced from 6 months to 90 days because the scientific evidence to date indicates that unvaccinated individuals who have had an infection have reduced and even more temporary protection against reinfection with the omicron variant compared to the delta variant,” RKI notes.

Germany also urged the EU to reduce the recovery certificates’ validity to 90 days. The German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has called the European Union to make such a proposal in order to protect public health within the bloc.

All of these changes come after the EU Commission is set to extend the Digital Certificate for another 12 months to June 2023. At the end of last week, the Commission brought out a proposal for the Certificate’s extension for another year, after an evaluation that the Coronavirus is still highly prevalent throughout the block, thus determining that it is not possible to cease using the Certificate as a means of safe travel this summer.

According to a press release of the EU Commission announcing the proposal, extending the regulation will enable travellers to continue using their COVID Certificate when travelling to the EU Member States, which maintain entry restrictions.

There are proposals for a number of changes to the certificate. These include, making high-quality laboratory-based antigen tests acceptable for obtaining a certificate in a bid to widen the scope of acceptance tests due to the high demand for them. At the same time, the Commission intends to update the certificates so that they include the correct number of doses of COVID-19 vaccines that a person has been administered, including here the doses administered in the other Member States than the one issuing the Certificate. And finally, the Commission wants to issue certificates to citizens who are part of clinical trials for vaccines against COVID-19 in the hope that such a move will encourage the ongoing development and research of vaccines against the virus.

Whilst most countries in the EU are happy to continue with the Covid certificate, Finland has said in the last week that they do not feel it is justified under the current situation. Finland’s Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson has stressed that the certificate was projected as a mechanism to stop the further spread of the Coronavirus during the previous phases of the epidemic, taking into account the fact that the vaccinated persons were more unlikely to contract the virus.

According to Henriksson, with the spread of the Omicron variant, “it appears” that vaccines against the virus do not prevent infections but rather more severe forms of the disease. The Minister emphasised that all restrictions to the rights of people must be proportionate and necessary. “The coronavirus passport limits the basic rights of those people who haven’t got vaccinated, obtained a negative test result, or had the disease. The Coronavirus or vaccination passport isn’t well suited for use in these circumstances because its necessity and proportionality are difficult to justify right now,” the Minister pointed out in this regard.

For those travelling, Stay Safe until the next time.

Total Cases Worldwide – 396,596,256

Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,760,642

Total Recovered Worldwide – 315,336,753

Total Active Cases Worldwide – 75,498,861 (19% of the total cases)

Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 321,097,395

Information and Resources:

https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-07/international-covid-borders-to-reopen-scott-morrison/100810580

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news

The Overseas Situation Report Friday 4 February 2022

by Mike Evans

If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.

– Barack Obama

As this report is written at the end of the first month of 2022, I have dedicated this particular report to the latest situation report from the World Health Organisation which details the situation across the world up to the end of January 2022. The reports which come out weekly show a detailed breakdown of each region in the world where the pandemic is prevalent and compares the current situation with a week previous.

Globally, during the week of 24 to 30 January 2022, the number of new COVID-19 cases remained similar to the number reported during the previous week, while the number of new deaths increased by 9%. Across the six WHO regions, over 22 million new cases and over 59 000 new deaths were reported. As of 30 January 2022, over 370 million confirmed cases and over 5.6 million deaths have been reported globally.

At the Regional level, increases in the number of new cases were reported by the Western Pacific (37%) the Eastern Mediterranean (24%) and the European (7%) Regions, while decreases were reported by the Region of the Americas (20%) and the South-East Asia Region (8%). The number of new cases reported in the African Region remained similar to that of the previous week.

The number of new weekly deaths continued to increase in the South-East Asia Region (41%), the Eastern Mediterranean Region (32%) and the Region of the Americas (16%), while the African Region reported a decrease of 7%. The incidence of deaths remained similar to the previous week in the European and the Western Pacific regions.

At the country level, the highest numbers of new cases were reported from the United States of America (3 279 226 new cases; a 34% decrease), France (2 357 129 new cases; similar to the previous week’s figures), India (1 855 258 new cases; a 12% decrease), Brazil (1 283 024 new cases; a 56% increase), and Germany (1 055 768 new cases; a 48% increase). The highest number of new deaths were reported from the United States of America (13 558 new deaths; a 5% decrease), India (4682 new deaths; a 40% increase), the Russian Federation (4616 new deaths; like the previous week), Brazil (3321 new deaths; an 88% increase) and Italy (2618 new deaths; a 7% increase).

In the Africa Region there were over 125 000 new cases, like the number reported during the previous week. This follows on from a decreasing trend in new cases that has been observed for over a month. However, six countries (12%) reported increases of 20% or greater, with the highest increases reported from the Central African Republic (410 vs 190 new cases, a 116% increase), Lesotho (277 vs 165 new cases, a 68% increase) and Algeria.

The highest numbers of new cases continued to be reported from Réunion (46 914 new cases; 5240.0 new cases per 100 000 population; a 49% increase), South Africa (22 202 new cases; 37.4 new cases per 100 000; similar to the previous week’s figures), and Algeria (14 774 new cases; 33.7 new cases per 100 000; a 63% increase).

The number of new weekly deaths continued to decline in the Region with over 1600 new deaths reported, a 7% decrease as compared to the previous week. The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from South Africa (842 new deaths.

Since mid-January 2022, the Region of the Americas has continued to report a decrease in the number of new cases, with over 6.5 million cases reported this week, a 20% decrease as compared to the previous week.

Only four countries reported increases of 20% or greater including: the Falkland Islands (3 vs 1 new case, a 200% increase), Chile (157 937 vs 82 574 new cases, a 91% increase), El Salvador (6250 vs 3435 new cases, an 82% increase) and Brazil. The highest numbers of new cases were reported from the United States of America (3 279 226 new cases; 990.7 new cases per 100 000; a 34% decrease), Brazil (1 283 024 new cases; 603.6 new cases per 100 000; a 56% increase), and Argentina (619 108 new cases; 1369.8 new cases per 100 000; a 19% decrease).

Over 26,000 new weekly deaths were reported in the Region, corresponding to a 16% increase as compared to the previous week. The highest numbers of new deaths continued to be reported from the United States of America (13 558 new deaths.)

Since the end of December 2021, the Eastern Mediterranean Region reported a continued increase in new cases. During the last week, over 596 000 new cases were reported, a 24% increase as compared to the previous week. Over half of the countries (13/22, 59%) reported increases of 20% or greater, with the highest increases reported from the occupied Palestinian territory (33 080 vs 7293 new cases; 354% increase), the Islamic Republic of Iran and Libya (16 399 vs 6692 new cases; a 145% increase).

The highest numbers of new cases were reported from the Islamic Republic of Iran (76 837 new cases; 91.5 new cases per 100 000; a 189% increase), Jordan (63 153 new cases; 619.0 new cases per 100 000; a 72% increase), and Tunisia (54 346 new cases; 459.8 new cases per 100 000; an 18% decrease). Over 1600 new weekly deaths were reported in the Region, a 32% increase as compared to the previous week.

The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from Tunisia (275 new deaths; 2.3 new deaths per 100 000; a 55% increase).

Since mid-December 2021, the number of new cases has continued to rise in the European Region, with the Region reporting over 11.4 million new cases this week, a 7% increase as compared to the previous week. Twenty-three countries (38%) reported an increase greater than 20%, with the highest increases reported from Armenia (14 722 vs 4094 new cases; a 260% increase), Azerbaijan (19 307 vs 7116 new cases; a 171% increase), and Tajikistan (143 vs 59 new cases; a 142% increase).

The highest numbers of new cases were reported from France (2 357 129 new cases; 3624.2 new cases per 100 000; similar to the previous week’s figures), Germany (1 055 768 new cases; 1269.5 new cases per 100 000; a 48% increase), and Italy (1 040 184 new cases; 1744.1 new cases per 100 000; a 16% decrease). The number of weekly deaths in the Region remained similar to that of the previous week with over 21 000 reported.

The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from the Russian Federation (4616 new deaths; 3.2 new deaths per 100 000; similar to the previous week’s figures), Italy (2618 new deaths; 4.4 new deaths per 100 000; a 7% increase), and France (1881 new deaths; 2.9 new deaths per 100 000; a 19% increase).

Following an increase in the number of new cases over the past month, the number of new cases in the South-East Asia Region decreased, with over 2.1 million new cases reported this week, an 8% decrease as compared to the previous week. However, seven out of ten countries in the region reported an increase greater than 20% in the number of new weekly cases, with the largest increases reported from Timor-Leste (69 vs 5 new cases; a 1280% increase), Indonesia and Bangladesh.

The highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (1,855, 258 new cases; 134.4 new cases per 100 000; a 12% decrease), Bangladesh (100 196 new cases; 60.8 new cases per 100 000; a 49% increase), and Indonesia (56 807 new cases; 20.8 new cases per 100 000; a 286% increase). The number of new deaths in the Region increased by 41% as compared to the previous week, with over 5200 new deaths reported.

The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from India (4682 new deaths; <1 new death per 100 000; a 40% increase).

The number of new cases in Western Pacific Region increased by 37% as compared to the previous week, with over 1.4 million new cases reported. Half of the countries in the Region reported increases of over 20% in new cases, with the highest proportional increases reported from Papua New Guinea (339 vs 81 new cases; a 319% increase), Kiribati (142 vs 39 new cases; a 264% increase) and Palau (1021 vs 319, a 220% increase).

The highest numbers of new cases continued to be reported from Australia (499 935 new cases; 1960.5 new cases per 100 000; a 65% increase), Japan (463 354 new cases; 366.4 new cases per 100 000; a 73% increase), and the Philippines (141 339 new cases; 129.0 new cases per 100 000; a 36% decrease).

The number of new weekly deaths in the Region remained similar to that of the previous week, with over 2500 new deaths reported. The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from Viet Nam (951 new deaths; 1.0 new death per 100 000; an 15% decrease), Australia (565 new deaths; 2.2 new deaths per 100 000; a 31% increase) and the Philippines (465 new deaths; <1 new death per 100 000; a 15% decrease).

It is plain to see that whilst the figures are decreasing across the Globe we are still a fair way away from declaring this pandemic over so until the next time Stay Safe.

Total Cases Worldwide – 386,249,480

Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,721,616

Total Recovered Worldwide – 305,939,021

Total Active Cases Worldwide – 74,588,843 (19.3% of the total cases)

Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 311,660,637

Information and Resources:

https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/

https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on-covid-19—1-february-2022

 

The Overseas Situation Report Tuesday 1 February 2022

by Mike Evans

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

– Confucius

Whilst for many the pandemic has brought about changes to their lifestyles which will be difficult to go back to, there are many things which are carrying on as normal as possible. For many the introduction of Homeworking has given them the chance to get out of the morning commute and all the hassles that this exercise brought.

We now see many companies across the world have changed the way they work in order to adapt to these new practises. It is reported that large organisations are looking to downsize their corporate head offices in capital cities across the world due to the lack of work-based staff.  However, on the other hand a lot of things have not changed.

Sports across the world have been largely continuing albeit without audiences for some time, but slowly the world has started to return to watching sport as a recreational activity, something that lockdowns during Covid times put a stop to unless you watched it on television.

However, one particular spectacle which is about to start is having to deal with the effects of Covid. The winter Olympics are due to start in Beijing very shortly and whilst the world has been dealing with their issues of Covid, The Chinese Government has been trying to keep a lid on it through some would feel draconian measures for its citizens.

Since early in the Pandemic, China has all but closed its doors to the outside world and has put millions of its citizens under quarantine to eradicate the virus. Whether they have succeeded is anyone’s guess as the reports that come out of China are very much controlled by the state.

91 Nations are represented at the Winter Olympics with 2871 competitors. The International Olympic Committee, organisers in Beijing, and the $2 billion global advertising machine swear that everything is going to be just fine this February: A “filtering” process of travellers into China’s draconian “zero-Covid” environment, followed by daily testing within a “closed loop” and country-specific precautions, will combine to create a triple-bubble of the 24th Winter Olympiad.

But listen to actual Olympians, as magazine Rolling Stone did in real talk with a cross-section of 17 prominent athletes this month, and you begin to comprehend a mutating pressure. After lifetimes preparing for their moment, the Omicron variant is following these young people around the world, straight into a maze of naked capitalism — of germs and depression and greed — that expects blind faith.

As potential cracks in the Chinese crackdown emerge, competitors at the Beijing Games will be expected to grin and bear it for the worldwide TV cameras while dreading that one positive test that could wipe them out from competition… and land them in a “medical prison” run by the state.

More than 175 cases have already surfaced from delegations arriving in China, including at least one snowboarder on Friday, with mounting concern that a wave of athletes could become infected next. Multiple Olympic executives acknowledge to Rolling Stone that on-the-ground organisers and national medical experts have internally discussed the contingency plan of a pause in the action, as the NHL did to take a look in the mirror when Omicron hit the United States in December and the league barred its players from Beijing.

Whilst many Athletes fear that a surge in case could stop the Games the IOC’s adaptive response to the variant with a patchwork of policies, seen through the eyes of the athletes surviving Beijing’s Omicron gauntlet in the spotlight, make it increasingly clear: Whenever the suits who run the Olympics see through the looking glass of our upside-down pandemic world, they determine that the games must go on, at any cost.

As touchdown began in earnest this week, athletes were getting tested en masse at Beijing International. (It’s the PCR throat swab this time.) To avoid needless interaction, they’re carrying their own suitcases. They’ve been shown to their seats on socially distanced buses run by the Chinese organising committee. (Bus and taxi drivers are trapped inside the bubble, too.) And then they’re off through the “processing centre” to wait up to six hours for test results inside the closed loop — a pandemic purgatory of isolation, action sports, and a nebulous nether region reserved for quarantine.

Full vaccination is all but mandated to enter this Olympic thunderdome; unvaxxed athletes and staff were required to complete a three-week quarantine upon arrival in Beijing. IOC officials and national medical officers describe the actual Daily life within the Olympic village as something like this: An athlete wakes up and finds coffee and a collection site for daily testing in the drab lobby of her apartment building in one of three Olympic villages, sub-divided by sport and then by delegation. Many teams have been eating lunch with rubber gloves for months, most of the teams were happy to hear that the dining-hall dividers for each delegation in the 2022 villages are at least see-through.

They might not be so happy to smell the leaning tower of Olympic rubbish, which Beijing organisers will keep stored within the bubble during the Games to “protect the health and safety of the Chinese people,” before mass-processing the garbage in what could amount to a literal dumpster fire.

During the past four days China has detected some 119 cases of COVID-19 among athletes and personnel linked to the Beijing Winter Olympics, with authorities imposing a “closed loop” bubble to keep participants, staff and media separated from the public.

The tally from the weekend showed 37 new cases on Sunday, and 34 on Saturday, with most testing positive after arrival at the airport, Games organisers said.

On Monday, Russian biathlete Valeria Vasnetsova said her own Olympic ambitions were over after testing positive twice following her arrival in Beijing, one of three Russian positive tests announced on Monday.

“Unfortunately, my Olympic dream will remain just a dream,” Vasnetsova wrote on social media. “Maybe one day I will find the strength to rise again but it will be a completely different story.”

Eight athletes or team officials were among 28 people who had tested positive on arrival at the airport on Sunday. International Olympic Committee member Emma Terho, who heads the IOC’s athletes commission, also tested positive and said she has been in isolation since the weekend.

“Even though this is not the start I envisaged, I was happy to see the protocols that Beijing 2022 has put in place are working well,” Terho, a retired Finnish ice hockey player, said on social media.

Whether these games have the same attraction to the sports enthusiast as previous games will not be known until the almost 3000 athletes have done their best to beat not only their competitors but also the virus. Which one wins is another story.

Until the next time stay safe.

Total Cases Worldwide – Total Cases Worldwide – 375,658,447

Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,683,192

Total Recovered Worldwide – 296,770,853

Total Active Cases Worldwide – 73,204,402 (19.4 % of the total cases)

Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 302,454,045

Information and Resources:

https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/omicron-winter-olympics-beijing-china-covid-1292245/

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-reports-37-new-covid-19-cases-among-olympics-personnel-jan-30-2022-01-31/

 

The Overseas Situation Report Friday 28 January 2022

by Mike Evans

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

– Jimmy Dean

Welcome to this Friday’s Overseas Report which details information and verified facts which will be of interest to our followers regarding how Covid 19 is impacting our lives and the lives of people across the world.

In this report we are looking at the latest news regarding travelling during these covid times. In a period where the omicron variant is moving around the world very quickly, we bring you the details of what countries in Europe are doing to facilitate travel in and around Europe.

Europe has recorded 9,629,074 new COVID-19 cases in the last seven days, the majority of which are Omicron cases, data by the World Health Organisation (WHO) show. European Union Member States top the table as the European countries with the highest number of cases. Yet, despite the numbers, some EU and Schengen Area countries are already facilitating restrictions by removing some measures which were imposed at the end of November 2021, when the existence of the Omicron virus variant was first detected in southern Africa.

Since January 21, Sweden has removed the obligation to test pre-departure for incoming travellers from EU countries who are vaccinated against COVID-19.

Travellers are no longer considered to represent a particular risk that would affect the spread of the Omicron variant in Sweden. For this reason, the specific requirement for a negative COVID-19 result from a test conducted within 48 hours of arrival to Sweden is no longer considered to be a proportional measure, according to a request from the Public Health Agency of Sweden,” the Swedish Ministry of Justice explained in a press release announcing the decision.

Thus, since Friday, travellers are only obliged to present either an EU Digital COVID Certificate, a vaccination certificate, a recovery certificate, or a test within 72 hours of arrival.

Near Neighbours, Norway have announced that the country will end its mandatory quarantine requirement that currently applies to unvaccinated travellers who reach the country as well as to close contacts of infected persons. According to a press release issued by the Norwegian Ministry of Health, the decision to end the quarantine requirement was taken since the country thinks that this measure is no longer necessary to control the spread of the virus.

The Norwegian National Institute of Public Health has pointed out that travellers who don’t hold a vaccination certificate make up only 7 per cent of the total number of persons who entered the country. Meanwhile, 4 percent of them have been cases of infection.

Therefore, since the quarantine rule currently has little to no significance when it comes to halting the spread of the virus, starting from tomorrow, January 26, all unvaccinated and unrecovered travellers will be permitted entry to Norway without having to follow the quarantine requirement. Nonetheless, it has been emphasised that travellers who haven’t been vaccinated or recovered from the virus are still required to take a pre-entry test.

In contrast, travellers who have received all the required vaccine doses, as well as those who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease, are not required to follow any additional entry rules.

In addition, the lifting of the quarantine requirement applies to close contacts of infected persons, too. This means that all those who have had close contact with an infected person will no longer be required to follow the self-isolation rule provided that they undergo daily tests. Even though the quarantine requirement will soon be officially removed, the authorities have highlighted that they can introduce self-isolation rules again if the COVID-19 situation worsens or if a new variant starts circulating.

Since January 22, Switzerland has also removed the pre-departure testing requirement for travellers who have been vaccinated against COVID or recovered from the virus in the last 270 days. Those unrecovered and unvaccinated remain subject to the requirement. Yet, they will no longer be obliged to test once more between the fourth and seventh day.

However, due to limited testing capacity, travellers will no longer be required to take follow-up tests four to seven days after arriving, meaning that the ‘3G’ rule applies to enter Switzerland,” the Swiss Federal Council explains.

The Austrian authorities, on the other hand, have finally removed the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway from the list of virus variant countries. From Monday, January 24, 2022, travellers from these four countries will be eligible to enter Austria if they have received a booster shot or have been administered two vaccines and present negative results of a PCR test taken within 72 hours before arrival in Austria. Those who have recently recovered from COVID-19 and present negative results of a PCR test taken within 72 hours before arrival are also permitted to enter, as well as those who have recovered from COVID-19 and have at least one vaccine taken.

Another country that is set to facilitate travel restrictions by the end of the month is Finland, which intends to remove internal border controls on January 31.

The decision has been taken based on the opinion of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, which asserts that travel has not played a significant role in the development of the epidemic in Finland. The same also claims that internal border control can no longer be justified on public health grounds.

Later, on March 1, Cyprus intends to remove all travel restrictions for vaccinated travellers, including here those with booster shots.

Other EU and Schengen countries have facilitated travel rules in other ways, some of them by shortening the period for which incoming travellers from risk areas should quarantine upon arrival. Among the countries that have taken such measures are Estonia, Iceland, Switzerland, and more. From January 24, Cyprus will also shorten quarantine from 14 to ten days.

The Danish government has announced the end of domestic restrictions imposed due to Coronavirus, as the country no longer categorises the virus as a socially critical disease. The new rules will enter force on February 1, and, according to them, several restrictions such as wearing a face mask, presenting the vaccination certificate to enter leisure facilities, and following a curfew restriction will no longer apply.

In addition, the requirement for travellers to present a post-arrival test and undergo mandatory quarantine will also be lifted.

According to a press release issued by Health Ministry,  “The Epidemic Commission has recommended that the stricter requirement for testing prior to entry into Denmark expires after January 31, but that the previous general entry restrictions that applied before the introduction of the stricter temporary requirements continue from February 1 and provisionally until February 28, 2022.” However, some of the requirements for entry will continue applying, at least until the end of February, as the government is determining the new, facilitated entry rules. At present, it is believed that a requirement of presenting a pre-departure test will remain effective, especially for travellers who haven’t been vaccinated or previously infected with COVID-19.

“The government is awaiting an answer on whether the parliamentary parties support it,” The Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said for entry requirement laws imposed on travellers. At present, Danish authorities impose some of the most complicated entry rules for travellers, as there are several countries’ categorisations.

Travellers from the EU who have been infected with the virus 11 to 180 days before travelling are exempted from any requirement, while the rest must perform a PCR test within 72 hours of departure or 48 hours for rapid antigen test users. The testing requirement applies even to fully vaccinated travellers. A similar rule applies to travellers from risk countries, except that permanent residents and citizens of Denmark are required to take a test either before or within 24 hours of arrival. However, arrivals from high-risk countries, including permanent residents and citizens of Denmark, are obliged to undergo ten-day isolation and provide a test taken within the timeframe as previously mentioned, if they haven’t previously been infected with COVID-19. While fully vaccinated travellers are exempted from quarantine requirements, they are subject to the testing requirement.

In other words, unvaccinated and unrecovered travellers must get tested and quarantined for ten days in Denmark, with the possibility of ending the isolation time by performing a PCR test at least six days after arrival.

Meanwhile, The Dutch authorities have announced that starting from February 2, more facilitated entry rules will apply to persons travelling from high-risk areas. According to the latest data published by the Ministry of Health of the Netherlands, incoming travellers who have received a booster shot at least seven days before arrival will be exempt from the quarantine rule.

From February 2, 2022, travellers with a booster shot are not required to be quarantined if the traveller received the booster shot at least seven days before the trip to the Netherlands,” the statement of the Ministry reads.

This means that all persons who have completed their primary vaccination and who received an additional dose will no longer have to follow strict entry rules.

On the other hand, unvaccinated travellers, as well as those who haven’t received an additional dose, will continue to be subject to the ten-day quarantine requirement unless they are part of the exemption list.

To be eligible to enter the Netherlands under facilitated rules, travellers from high-risk areas who have received a booster shot must complete a quarantine statement. The statement can be filled out online.

Once the form is completed, travellers will receive a digital confirmation, which then must be provided to the responsible authorities. Those who are unable to fill out the digital format can download a printable form and then fill it out manually.

In addition, everyone must show their vaccination certificate. Travellers from EU/Schengen Area countries can currently travel to the Netherlands if they hold a valid vaccination certificate. In contrast, third-country travellers must also provide a negative COVID-19 test result, regardless of their vaccination status.

Apart from the above-mentioned new entry rule, the Netherlands is also expected to shorten the validity of the vaccination certificates from February 1. It has been revealed that the validity will be shortened from 12 to nine months.

This means that if the rule gets approved, the Dutch authorities will accept only vaccination passes that indicate that the holder has received its last dose within the last 270 days. Those who have been vaccinated more than nine months ago will have to receive a booster shot for their pass to be accepted when reaching the Netherlands.

As part of our service to our followers we will keep posting updates for travel throughout Europe when we receive them onto our Facebook page.

Until the next time Stay Safe.

Total Cases Worldwide – 363,876,024

Total Deaths Worldwide 5,647,753

Total Recovered Worldwide – 287,962,523 

Total Active Cases Worldwide 70,265,748 (19% of the total cases)

Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 293,610,276  

Information and Resources:

https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/