Historical archive

Country assessment for week 50 (13–19 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 the region of Lapland in Finland. The changes will enter into effect on Monday 13 December 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 13 December.

Countries in Europe

No countries will be green or orange from week 49.

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

Red:
Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Spain, and Vatican City.

Dark red:
Andorra, Belgium, Estonia, France (changed from red), Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the UK, Switzerland, 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 have been green after week 48.

Orange:
Dalarna, Jämtland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Norrbotten, Södermanland, and Västerbotten.

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

Red:
Blekinge, Gävleborg, Gotland, Halland, Kalmar, Skåne, Stockholm, Uppsala, Värmland, Västernorrland, Västra Götaland, Örebro, and Östergötland.

Dark red:
Västmanland (changed from red).

Denmark (including autonomous regions)

No regions in Denmark have been green or orange after 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 have been red after week 48.

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

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

Greenland will continue to be dark red, and will therefore 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 have been green after week 48.

Orange:
Kainuu, Länsi-Pohja, North Karelia, Satakunta, South Savo, Vaasa, East Savo, and the Åland Islands.

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

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

Red:
Pirkanmaa, Central Tavastland, Southwest Finland, Helsinki-Uusimaa, Kymmenlaakso, Central Finland, Central Ostrobothnia, North Savo, Päijat-Häme, South Ostrobothnia, and South Karelia.

Dark red:
North Ostrobothnia.

Selected islands and archipelagos in Europe 

The following islands and archipelagos will continue not to require travel quarantine (same requirements for green and orange islands and archipelagos):
No islands or archipelagos have been green after week 48.

Orange:
Sardinia and Sicily (both Italy).

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

Red:
The Azores (Portugal), the Balearic Islands (Spain), the Canary Islands (Spain), the Northern Aegean Islands (Greece, changed from dark red), and the Southern Aegean Islands (Greece).

Dark red:
The Ionian Islands (Greece), Corsica (France, changed from red), Crete (Greece), and Madeira (Portugal, changed from red).

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.