Historical archive

Country assessment for week 41 (11–17 October)

Changes to entry restrictions for several countries and areas

Historical archive

Published under: Solberg's Government

Publisher: Ministry of Health and Care Services

The Norwegian Government is introducing a duty to complete travel quarantine for the Faeroe Islands, Luxembourg, four regions in Finland, and two regions in Sweden. The duty to complete travel quarantine is being removed for Andorra, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Sicily, Spain, and three regions in Sweden. The changes will enter into effect on Monday 11 October at 12 am.

Travel quarantine will only apply to travellers arriving from red, dark red, purple, and grey countries. 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 duty to stay at a quarantine hotel in order to complete quarantine was removed on Saturday 25 September at 4 pm. 

The changes to the country list will appear in the COVID-19 Regulations and the interactive map on FHI.no from Monday 11 October.

Countries in Europe

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

Green:
Malta (changed from orange), Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Orange:
France, Italy, Iceland, Monaco, the Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Hungary, and Vatican City.

The duty to complete travel quarantine is being removed for the following countries:
Andorra (changed from red to orange), Cyprus (changed from red to orange), Liechtenstein (changed from red to green), and Spain (changed from red to orange).

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

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

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

Dark red:
Estonia, Latvia (changed from red), Lithuania, Romania (changed from red), 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 regions):

Green:
Blekinge, Gotland, Kalmar, Värmland, and Västernorrland (all changed from orange).

Orange:
Dalarna, Gävleborg, Halland, Jämtland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Norrbotten, Södermanland, Uppsala, and Örebro.

The duty to complete travel quarantine is being removed for the following regions:
Skåne, Västra Götaland, and Östergötland (all changed from red to orange).

Travel quarantine is being introduced for the following regions:
Västerbotten and Västmanland (both changed from orange to red).

The following region continues to be red and require travel quarantine: 
Stockholm

Denmark (including autonomous regions)

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

Green:
Southern Denmark and Central Denmark.

Orange:
The capital (including Copenhagen), North Jutland, and Zealand.

The Faeroe Islands will change from orange to red and a duty to complete travel quarantine is therefore being introduced.

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:
Central Tavastland (changed from orange), North Karelia, South Savo (changed from orange), and the Åland Islands.

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

Travel quarantine is being introduced for the following regions:
Pirkanmaa, Helsinki-Uusimaa, Central Finland, and North Ostrobothnia (all changed from orange to red).

The following regions will continue to be red and require travel quarantine: 
Southwest Finland, North Savo, 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) (all changed from orange to green).

Orange:
The Azores (Portugal), the Balearic Islands (Spain), and Madeira (Portugal).

The duty to complete travel quarantine is being removed for the following archipelagos:
Corsica (France), Crete (Greece), and Sicily (Italy) (all changed from red to orange).

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

Purple countries
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, Saudi-Arabia, and Taiwan.

The following countries and areas are being added to the list of purple countries:
Chile, Kuwait, Qatar, and Uruguay.

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.