Changes to entry restrictions for several countries and areas

All of the changes will enter into effect on Monday 13 September at 12 am.

The changes will appear in the COVID-19 Regulations and the interactive map on FHI.no from Monday 13 September.

Countries in Europe

Entry restrictions and a quarantine requirement are being introduced for the following country:

Slovakia (changed from green to orange).

The following countries will remain green:
Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

The duty to stay at a quarantine hotel is being lifted for the following country:
Cyprus (changed from dark red to red).

The following countries will remain orange or red, or change from orange to red (the same rules apply to orange and red countries):

Orange:
Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, and Romania.

Red:
Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Greece, France, Estonia, Belgium, Lithuania, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Bulgaria, Germany, Andorra, Monaco, Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Croatia (changed from orange), and Austria (changed from orange).

The following countries will continue to be dark red and trigger a duty to stay at a quarantine hotel:

United Kingdom

Regions and autonomous regions in the Nordic countries

Sweden

The following region will turn green, and the entry restrictions and quarantine requirement will be lifted:
Norrbotten

The following regions will remain orange or red, or change from orange to red or from red to orange (the same rules apply to orange and red regions):

Orange:
(will remain orange) Södermanland, Uppsala, Blekinge, Dalarna, Västernorrland, Kronoberg (changed from red), Gävleborg, Jönkjöping, Halland, Jämtland, Örebro, Värmland, Västerbotten, Västmanland, and Kalmar.

Red:
Gotland, Stockholm, Västra Götaland, Skåne, and Östergötland. 

Denmark

Autonomous regions:

The Faeroe Islands will remain green. Greenland will change from red to orange. 

The following regions will remain orange or red, or change from red to orange (the same rules apply to orange and red regions):

Orange:
Zealand, Southern Denmark, Central Denmark (changed from red), and North Jutland (changed from red).

Red:
The capital (including Copenhagen).

Finland

The following regions will turn green, and the entry restrictions and quarantine requirement will be lifted:
Central Finland, Satakunta, North Karelia, Central Ostrobothnia, and Lapland.

The following regions will remain green:
Länsi-Pohja and the Åland Islands.

The following regions will remain orange or red, or change from orange to red (the same rules apply to orange and red regions):

Orange:
Kymmenlaakso, South Savo, Central Tavastland, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, Päijat-Häme, Vaasa, South Ostrobothnia, East Savo, Pirkanmaa, South Karelia, and Southwest Finland (changed from red).

Red:
Helsinki and Uusimaa, and Southwest Finland.

Selected archipelagos in Europe 

The following archipelagos will change from dark red to red, and the duty to stay at a quarantine hotel will be lifted:
Crete (Greece) and Corsica (France).

The following archipelagos will remain red, or change from red to orange (the same rules apply to orange and red archipelagos): 

Orange:
The Azores (Portugal) and Madeira (Portugal). Both will change from red.

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

The following archipelagos will remain dark red and trigger a duty to stay at a quarantine hotel:

The Southern Aegean Islands (Greece) and the Ionian 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 when travelling to Norway, such as an exemption from the duty to stay at a quarantine hotel. These countries and areas are known as ‘purple countries’. See further information in the box below.

These countries and areas will remain purple:
Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia.

Travel outside the EEA/Schengen and the UK still not advised
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs still advises against non-essential travel to countries outside the EEA/Schengen area and the UK. There are exemptions for a few areas and countries on the EU's list of third countries, known as purple countries. The travel advice is valid until 1 October 2021.

A text message will be sent to people with a Norwegian mobile phone subscription who are staying in the countries that will be subject to changed entry restrictions upon arrival in Norway. 

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.