Several European countries added to no quarantine travel list
On Friday the government added several more countries to the no quarantine list. This means visitors from more than 20 countries can now travel to Estonia without undergoing a 14-day quarantine on arrival from June 1.
The initial list, released on Thursday, allowed citizens and residents of Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland to enter Estonia without having to quarantine.
On Friday, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Romania and Denmark were added to the list.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said people would only be allowed to enter without quarantine if they have spent at least 14 days in any of the above countries before coming to Estonia.
The list is updated every Friday and updates will take force the following Monday. A mandatory quarantine period is in place for travelers from other countries.
Minster of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa) said: "We are taking it one step at a time when it comes to lifting travel restrictions. The safety of our population is always our priority.
"We can currently open Estonia to Europe. It is difficult to predict now when we can welcome people from across the world again because everything depends on developments in the spread of the virus."
Minister of the Interior Mart Helme (EKRE) said: "The virus has not gone anywhere and in the interests of your loved ones, we recommend avoiding non-essential travel.
"We will continue border checks according to countries of origin at Estonian ports and airports, and will notify anyone arriving from a country with a high infection rate of the mandatory 14-day quarantine."
On Thursday, the government approved the decision to reopen the borders of Estonia from June 1 to passengers arriving from European countries. Estonia will admit people with no symptoms arriving from the European Union, the Schengen area or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
However, a mandatory quarantine period still applies for people arriving in Estonia if the coronavirus infection rate in their country of origin is above 15.
This means that 15 or fewer people per 100,000 inhabitants have become infected in the passenger's country of origin in the past 14 days. Anyone arriving in Estonia from a country with a higher infection rate must self-isolate for two weeks on arrival.
Information on countries and quarantine requirements is available on the Foreign Ministry website.
A list of countries and their current infection rate as of May 29 is published below.
A restriction making a 14-day quarantine period mandatory for people arriving in Estonia from abroad was imposed in March when the emergency situation was introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days:
- Austria 6,0
- Belgium 30,7
- Bulgaria 5,5
- Croatia 0,60
- Czech Republic 7,4
- Cyprus 2,8
- Denmark 13,8
- Finland 10,8
- France 11,8
- Germany 8,7
- Greece 1,3
- Iceland 0,9
- Ireland 20,7
- Italy 14,3
- Hungary 4,4
- Latvia 5,2
- Liechtenstein 0,0
- Lithuania 5,3
- Luxemburg 14,9
- Malta 21,3
- Netherlands 14,4
- Norway 4,2
- Poland 13,8
- Portugal 32,1
- Romania 13,2
- Slovakia 0,8
- Slovenia 0,4
- Spain 17,3
- Sweden 70,7
- Switzerland 3,8
- United Kingdom 53,8
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Editor: Helen Wright