Historical archive

Country assessment for week 48 (29 November–5 December)

Changes to entry restrictions for several countries and areas

Historical archive

Published under: Støre's Government

Publisher: Ministry of Health and Care Services

The Ministry of Health and Care Services is introducing a requirement of travel quarantine for people arriving from France, Monaco, Portugal, and Spain; the archipelago of the Azores (Portugal); the region of North Savo (Finland); and the regions of Gotland and Västernorrland (Sweden). The changes will enter into effect on Monday 29 November at 12 am.

Travel quarantine will only apply to travellers arriving from red, dark red, and grey countries (countries and areas outside the EEA/Schengen area and the UK) who do not have a valid, verifiable 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 29 November.

Countries in Europe

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

No countries will be green from week 47.

Orange:
Italy, Malta, San Marino, and Vatican City.

Travel quarantine is introduced for the following countries:
France, Monaco, Portugal, and Spain (all 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:
Cyprus and Romania.

Dark red:
Andorra, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Croatia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg (changed from red), the Netherlands, Poland (changed from red), Slovakia, Slovenia, the UK, Switzerland (changed from red), the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, and Austria.

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):

No regions in Sweden will be green from week 48.

Orange:
Dalarna (changed from green), Jämtland (changed from green), Jönköping, Kronoberg, Västerbotten, and Östergötland.

Travel quarantine is being introduced for the following region:
Gotland (changed from green to red) and Västernorrland (changed from orange to red).

The following regions will continue to be red and require travel quarantine: 
Blekinge, Gävleborg, Halland, Kalmar, Norrbotten, Skåne, Stockholm, Södermanland, Uppsala, Värmland, Västmanland, Västra Götaland, and Örebro.

Denmark (including autonomous regions)

No regions in Denmark will be green or orange from week 46.

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

No regions in Denmark will be red from week 48.

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

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

Greenland will change from red to dark red, and will continue to require travel quarantine.

Finland

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

No regions in Finland will be green from week 48.

Orange:
Kainuu, Lapland, North Karelia, Satakunta, South Savo, Vaasa, East Savo, and the Åland Islands (changed from green).

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

The following regions will continue to be red and require travel quarantine:
Pirkanmaa, Central Tavastland, Southwest Finland, Helsinki-Uusimaa, Kymmenlaakso, Länsi-Pohja, Central Finland, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Päijat-Häme, South Ostrobothnia, and South Karelia.

Selected islands and archipelagos in Europe 

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

No islands or archipelagos will be green from week 48.

Orange:
Sardinia (Italy) (changed from green) and Sicily (Italy).

Travel quarantine is being introduced for the following archipelago:
The Azores (Portugal) (changed from orange to red).

The following islands and archipelagos will continue to require travel quarantine (same requirements for red and dark red islands and archipelagos):

Red:
The Balearic Islands (Spain), the Canary Islands (Spain), Corsica (France), Madeira (Portugal), and the Southern Aegean Islands (Greece).

Dark red:
The Ionian Islands (Greece), Crete (Greece) (changed from red), and the Northern Aegean Islands (Greece).

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.