Denmark advises against travel to Switzerland and three other countries
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now advising against all non-essential travel to Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Austria.
The ministry updated its travel advisories on Thursday after the four countries passed Denmark’s limit of 30 new cases of Covid-19 per resident per week for the introduction of travel warnings.
The change comes into effect at midnight between Friday 18th and Saturday 19th September.
One of Denmark’s criteria for designating an EU or Schengen zone country, as well as the United Kingdom, ‘open' for travel is that the number of current coronavirus infections must be below 20 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Once a country is open, the critical limit for when travel advisories are tightened again is set at 30 cases of infection per 100,000 residents, measured over the past week.
In addition to the number of infections, Danish authorities also look at testing and the percentage of tests which are positive. A maximum of five percent of those tested may test positive.
Non-essential travel is already advised against for Andorra, Belgium, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Romania, Spain, Czech Republic, and Hungary. The advisories are not legally binding but Danish tourists' consumer rights are voided if they are not followed, DR has reported.
In addition to these countries, Denmark also currently advises against travel to Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia because of restrictions such as quarantine placed by these countries on arrivals from Denmark.
Norway is expected from Saturday to add the North Jutland and Zealand regions to its ‘red’ list of countries for which a 10-day quarantine requirement applies on arrival.
As such, Norway’s quarantine rules will from Saturday cover all Denmark and the Faroe Islands, but not Greenland.
But Denmark will not advise against travel to Norway because “it is still possible to spend a holiday in Norway if you stay in a suitable place of quarantine place”, according to the Danish foreign ministry.
READ ALSO: Norway to impose quarantine on travellers from all of Denmark
People who live in countries to which Denmark advises against travel are required to provide a so-called “worthy” (anerkendelsesværdigt) reason for entering Denmark. This can include work or family reasons but not tourism. Detailed guidance can be found on the Danish police website.
Residents of Denmark who travel to the North West of England are meanwhile advised to be tested for Covid-19 on their return home due to high infection rates in the UK area, the foreign ministry said in its update on Thursday.
The model for travel guidelines for EU and Schengen countries asks travellers to get tested after returning from a region where the number of infections has increased to 50 or more new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last week.
The travel guidelines published by the Danish foreign ministry are primarily aimed at Danish tourists. Business travel can be deemed ‘essential’, meaning travel to a country on Denmark’s ‘closed’ list for business purposes is not necessarily advised against.
Individual companies and employees can “assess whether a business trip is a necessary trip”, the ministry writes in the statement published on Thursday.
“We encourage companies and their employees to follow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' special travel advice for business travel and stay up to date on local travel restrictions on the relevant embassy website,” it adds.
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The ministry updated its travel advisories on Thursday after the four countries passed Denmark’s limit of 30 new cases of Covid-19 per resident per week for the introduction of travel warnings.
The change comes into effect at midnight between Friday 18th and Saturday 19th September.
One of Denmark’s criteria for designating an EU or Schengen zone country, as well as the United Kingdom, ‘open' for travel is that the number of current coronavirus infections must be below 20 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Once a country is open, the critical limit for when travel advisories are tightened again is set at 30 cases of infection per 100,000 residents, measured over the past week.
In addition to the number of infections, Danish authorities also look at testing and the percentage of tests which are positive. A maximum of five percent of those tested may test positive.
Non-essential travel is already advised against for Andorra, Belgium, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Romania, Spain, Czech Republic, and Hungary. The advisories are not legally binding but Danish tourists' consumer rights are voided if they are not followed, DR has reported.
In addition to these countries, Denmark also currently advises against travel to Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia because of restrictions such as quarantine placed by these countries on arrivals from Denmark.
Norway is expected from Saturday to add the North Jutland and Zealand regions to its ‘red’ list of countries for which a 10-day quarantine requirement applies on arrival.
As such, Norway’s quarantine rules will from Saturday cover all Denmark and the Faroe Islands, but not Greenland.
But Denmark will not advise against travel to Norway because “it is still possible to spend a holiday in Norway if you stay in a suitable place of quarantine place”, according to the Danish foreign ministry.
READ ALSO: Norway to impose quarantine on travellers from all of Denmark
People who live in countries to which Denmark advises against travel are required to provide a so-called “worthy” (anerkendelsesværdigt) reason for entering Denmark. This can include work or family reasons but not tourism. Detailed guidance can be found on the Danish police website.
Residents of Denmark who travel to the North West of England are meanwhile advised to be tested for Covid-19 on their return home due to high infection rates in the UK area, the foreign ministry said in its update on Thursday.
The model for travel guidelines for EU and Schengen countries asks travellers to get tested after returning from a region where the number of infections has increased to 50 or more new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last week.
The travel guidelines published by the Danish foreign ministry are primarily aimed at Danish tourists. Business travel can be deemed ‘essential’, meaning travel to a country on Denmark’s ‘closed’ list for business purposes is not necessarily advised against.
Individual companies and employees can “assess whether a business trip is a necessary trip”, the ministry writes in the statement published on Thursday.
“We encourage companies and their employees to follow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' special travel advice for business travel and stay up to date on local travel restrictions on the relevant embassy website,” it adds.
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