Historical archive

Country assessment for week 43 (25-31 october)

Changes to entry restrictions for several countries and areas

Historical archive

Published under: Støre's Government

Publisher: Ministry of Health and Care Services

The Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services is introducing a duty to complete travel quarantine for Hungary, Norrbotten in Sweden, and three regions in Finland. The changes will enter into effect on Monday 25 October at 12 am.

Travel quarantine will only apply to travellers arriving from red, dark red, purple, and grey countries who do not have a valid COVID-19 certificate. Children and young people under the age of 18 are exempt from travel quarantine, regardless of the country they arrive from. In addition, travel quarantine may be shortened for all travellers if they present a negative result from a PCR test taken no sooner than 3 days after arrival.

The changes to the country list will appear in the COVID-19 Regulations and the interactive map on FHI.no from Monday 25 October.

Countries in Europe

The following countries will continue not to require travel quarantine (same requirements for green and orange countries):

Green:
Malta and Liechtenstein

Orange:
Andorra, France, Italy, Iceland, Cyprus, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland (changed from green), Portugal, San Marino, Spain, the Czech Republic (changed from green), and Vatican City.

Travel quarantine is introduced for the following country:
Hungary (changed from orange to red).

The following countries will remain red or dark red and require travel quarantine (same requirements for red and dark red countries):

Red:
Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Croatia, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.

Dark red:
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, and the UK.

Regions and autonomous regions in the Nordic countries

Sweden

The following regions will continue not to require travel quarantine (same requirements for green and orange countries):

Green:
Blekinge, Gotland, Värmland, and Västernorrland

Orange:
Dalarna, Gävleborg, Halland, Jämtland, Jönköping, Kalmar (changed from green), Kronoberg, Skåne, Södermanland, Uppsala, Västra Götaland, Örebro, and Östergötland

Travel quarantine is being introduced for the following region:
Norrbotten (changed from orange to red).

The following regions will continue to be red and require travel quarantine: 
Stockholm, Västerbotten, and Västmanland

Denmark (including autonomous regions)

The following regions will continue not to require travel quarantine (same requirements for green and orange regions):

Orange:
The capital (including Copenhagen), Central Denmark (changed from green), North Jutland, Zealand, and Southern Denmark (changed from green).

The Faeroe Islands continue to be red and therefore continue to require travel quarantine.

Greenland continues to be red and therefore continues to require travel quarantine.

Finland

The following regions will continue not to require travel quarantine (same requirements for green and orange countries):

Green:
North Karelia, South Savo, and the Åland Islands.

Orange:
Central Tavastland (changed from green), Kainuu, Kymmenlaakso, Lapland, Länsi-Pohja, South Karelia, and East Savo.

Travel quarantine is being introduced for the following regions:
Central Ostrobothnia, South Ostrobothnia, and Vaasa (all changed from orange to red).

The following regions will continue to be red and require travel quarantine: 
Pirkanmaa, Southwest Finland, Helsinki-Uusimaa, Central Finland, North Savo, North Ostrobothnia, Päijat-Häme, and Satakunta.

Selected archipelagos in Europe 

The following archipelagos will continue not to require travel quarantine (same requirements for green and orange archipelagos):

Green:
The Canary Islands (Spain), the Northern Aegean Islands (Greece), and Sardinia (Italy).

Orange:
The Azores (Portugal), the Balearic Islands (Spain), Corsica (France), Crete (Greece), Madeira (Portugal), and Sicily (Italy). 

The following archipelagos will continue to be red and require travel quarantine:
The Ionian Islands (Greece) and the Southern Aegean Islands (Greece).

Purple countries and areas
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health assesses the countries and areas on the EU’s list of third countries which have an infection rate that warrants slightly lighter entry restrictions. These countries and areas are known as ‘purple countries’. Travel quarantine, testing, and entry registration are required when arriving from purple countries.

The following countries and areas will remain purple:
New Zealand, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi-Arabia, Taiwan, and Uruguay.

The following countries and areas on the EU's list of third countries will be changed from purple to grey:
Chile

The following countries and areas on the EU's list of third countries are grey:
Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Jordan, China, Macau, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, and Ukraine.

The process for changes to country assessments
The changes are based on the weekly assessment by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health of areas in the Nordic region, countries, and selected archipelagos in Europe, in addition to selected countries on the EU's list of third countries. The assessments are based on the same threshold values as those applied in the EU.

The assessment this week (an even week) concerns whether the infection rate calls for stricter or lighter entry restrictions and quarantine requirements. The decision means that measures will be lifted for some countries, while travel restrictions and quarantine requirements are introduced for others.

If you travel from a green country but have a layover in a country with stricter quarantine requirements (for example orange, red, or dark red), the entry restrictions of the country you stop in will apply when you arrive in Norway. This means that if you are not a Norwegian citizen and have a layover in a country that is not green, you will not have the right to enter Norway. 

New updates every week
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health assesses relevant countries and areas every week. In even weeks, a broad-ranging assessment is made, based on the infection rate, of whether measures will be eased or tightened for the countries and areas. In odd weeks, the only assessment made is whether a country should have stricter rules (for example if it is changed from green to orange or red), based on the infection rate.

Updates to the country assessments are published on regjeringen.no every Friday at about 12 pm, and the changes enter into effect the following Monday at 12 am. The changes will appear in the COVID-19 Regulations and the interactive map on FHI.no.