Changes to entry restrictions for several countries and areas

The changes will appear in the COVID-19 Regulations and the interactive map on FHI.no from Monday 23 August.

A text message with 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. 

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 for the rest of the world will apply until 1 September 2021.

Countries in Europe

Entry restrictions and travel quarantine are introduced for the following countries: 
Latvia and Germany (changed from green to orange).

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

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, Croatia, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Austria.

Red: Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Malta, France, Estonia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Lithuania, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein (changed from orange).

 The following countries will remain dark red:
Andorra, Cyprus, Spain, the UK, and Monaco.

Regions in the Nordic countries
The Nordic countries will continue to be assessed by region. The main reason for this is that we have sufficient data to make such assessments.

Sweden
Entry restrictions and quarantine requirements are being introduced for eight new regions in Sweden. There are no longer any green regions in Sweden.

Entry restrictions and travel quarantine are introduced for the following regions:
Blekinge, Dalarna, Jönköping, Kalmar, Kronoberg, Västernorrland (these regions will move from green to orange), Gävleborg, and Örebro (these two will change from green to red).

 

The following regions will remain orange or red, or change from orange to red (the same rules apply to orange and red regions):
Orange: Östergötland, Norrbotten, Södermanland, and Uppsala.

Red: Gotland, Halland, Stockholm, Värmland, Västerbotten, Västmanland, Västra Götaland (changed from orange to red), Skåne (changed from orange to red), and Jämtland (changed from orange to red).

Denmark
No changes to entry restrictions or quarantine requirements. All regions in Denmark (with the exception of the Faeroe Islands) continue to be subject to entry restrictions and quarantine requirements.

The Faeroe Islands will remain green, while Greenland will change category from orange to red (the same rules apply to orange and red regions).

The following regions will remain orange or red:
Orange: Zealand and Southern Denmark.

Red: The capital (including Copenhagen), Central Denmark, and North Jutland.

Finland
Entry restrictions and quarantine requirements are being introduced for two regions in Finland. This means that only one region in Finland remains green.

The following regions will change from green to orange:
Central Ostrobothnia and Eastern Savolax.

The following regions will remain green:
Länsi-Pohja.

 The following regions will remain orange or red:
Orange: Kymmenlaakso, Kainuss, Central Finland, South Savo, Central Tavastland, Satakunta, North Karelia, the Åland Islands, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, Päijat-Häme, Vaasa, and South Ostrobothnia.

Red: Helsinki and Uusimaa, Southwest Finland, Lapland, Pirkanmaa, and South Karelia.

Selected archipelagos in Europe 
Selected archipelagos will be assessed separately in order to allow safe travel to islands that are popular holiday destinations for Norwegians. No changes are being made to the entry restrictions and quarantine requirements for any of these archipelagos.

All of the selected archipelagos will continue to be subject to entry restrictions and quarantine requirements.

The following archipelagos will remain orange or red: 
Orange: Madeira and Portugal.

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

The following archipelagos will remain dark red and trigger a duty to stay at a quarantine hotel:
The Balearic Islands (Spain), Corsica (France), Crete (Greece), 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 are known as ‘purple countries’. See further information in the box below.

The following countries and areas are no longer purple:
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, and Moldova.

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

This week's assessment
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 odd week) concerns whether the infection rate calls for stricter entry restrictions and quarantine requirements. The decision means that entry restrictions and quarantine requirements have been introduced for several countries and areas.

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.