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Norway set to tighten Covid-19 travel advisory for Italy

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Norway set to tighten Covid-19 travel advisory for Italy
People bicycle past the enclosed entrance to the Venice Film Festival. Photo: AFP

Italy looked set to be added to Norway's ‘red' list of countries meaning travellers from the country will be obliged to undergo 10-days of quarantine after their arrival.

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The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) has recommended that Italy be added to the foreign ministry's list of ‘red' countries due to rising Covid-19 infections.

NIPH has also recommended the government introduce entry quarantines to the Vatican City State, San Marino and Slovenia.

The requirement is set to be lifted for Cyprus, however.

The latter nation is set to have its status changed from ‘red’ to ‘yellow’ along with Swedish regions Örebro, Gotland, Värmland, Västernorrland, Jämtland and Västerbotten, as well as Zealand in Denmark.

The changes will apply from Saturday September 5th.

People arriving from ‘red' countries to Norway are required to self-quarantine for 10 days and the Norwegian foreign ministry advises against all non-essential travel to the countries.

NIPH regularly updates its list of EEA and Schengen area countries which meet the country's criteria for quarantine and makes recommendations to the foreign ministry on this basis. For fellow Nordic countries, the criteria are applied on a regional basis.

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In order to be exempted from quarantine, the rate of new coronavirus infections must be less than 20 cases per 100,000 people in the last two weeks. Additionally, less than 5 percent of tests in the last two weeks may be positive. Figures are taken from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU agency monitoring the data, as well as local authorities.

Italy's number of new coronavirus cases has on Tuesday increased for the fourth week in a row, with more than 1,300 currently active outbreaks in the country.

Italian health authorities reported 1,365 new cases on Monday, similar to numbers not seen since early May when the country was still under lockdown.

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In Norway, 'home quarantine' including for people arriving from 'red' countries means that person is asked to stay home from school or work, not have visitors, not use public transport and only visit shops or pharmacies if strictly necessary or not at all if it is not possible to maintain social distance. You may have normal contact with people you live with who are not in quarantine. You are also allowed to go outside for a walk if you maintain a one-metre distance from others at all times.

If you later suspect you have symptoms of coronavirus, you must isolate yourself completely and get tested for the virus. More details can be found on the health authority website.

Countries designated ‘yellow' are not encompassed by the quarantine rule but the foreign ministry also advises against travel to these countries.

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