The Czech Republic from Monday, 17 January included Romania in the red category and the dark red category included Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria and Germany.
The category of countries with a low risk of contagion (the green category) includes the Vatican City State. Of the non-European countries or parts thereof, it includes Bahrain, Chile, Indonesia, Colombia, Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Macau, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Peru, the United Arab Emirates, Rwanda, the Oriental Republic of Uruguay and Taiwan.
The next category contains countries or territories which have a moderate risk of contagion (orange category). There are currently no countries in this category.
The traffic light system also includes the category of countries with high risk (red category). This category currently includes Poland and Romania.
The category of countries with a very high risk (dark red category), contains Andorra, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Croatia, France, Finland, Malta, Italy, Lichtenstein, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Norway, Germany, Hungary, Monaco, Iceland, Ireland, Austria, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Portugal incl. Madeira and the Azores Islands, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain incl. the Balearic and Canary Islands and Switzerland and other third countries outside the EU.
Czech citizens returning from red and dark red countries must complete an arrival form and take an antigen or PCR test even before returning to the Czech Republic if they are using public transport to travel. These persons are also obliged to undergo a PCR test no sooner than 5 days and no later than 7 days after arrival in the Czech Republic. When travelling to the Czech Republic using individual transport, a test is not required before commencing travel, but an RT-PCR test must be taken no sooner than 5 days and no later than 14 days after arriving in the Czech Republic. This obligation also concerns fellow passengers and family members of Czech citizens who have been issued a temporary residence permit in the Czech Republic, and European Union citizens that have been issued confirmation of temporary residence in the Czech Republic or foreigners with a long-term or permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic.
The conditions of testing when returning from abroad do not apply to Czech citizens and foreigners with residence permits who have completed vaccination or have recovered from Covid-19 in the past 180 days. The obligation to complete an arrival form remains in effect regardless of the category of the given country.
In order to prevent the spread of the new omicron variant, foreigners who do not have a residence permit in the Czech Republic will be required to have a negative PCR test result before entering the Czech Republic. This includes foreigners who have completed vaccination or have had Covid-19.
The only exception is for foreigners vaccinated with a booster dose if they have been vaccinated in a country whose certificate is recognized by the Czech Republic – a list of these countries is published on the website. Another exception applies to children under 12 years of age. A special regime applies to children aged 12-18, where children fully vaccinated (without a booster) are also exempt from the pre-entry test. Unvaccinated persons or persons who have not recovered from the Covid-19 disease must subsequently undergo an RT-PCR test between the 5th and 7th day after entering the Czech Republic and wear a respirator at all times when leaving their residence or accommodation until the result of this test is available.
The vaccination of third-country citizens who have completed vaccination from a non-EU country with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency or its equivalent vaccine approved by the World Health Organisation for emergency use is also recognised. These persons must also have been issued a verifiable certificate, which is published in the list of certificates on the website of the Ministry of Health. This may also include vaccinations from countries for which an implementing act has been concluded and they issue a certificate under the EU COVID regulation. The Czech Republic also accepts certificates from countries where vaccination with an EMA-approved vaccine is taking place, vaccination coverage rates are higher than in the Czech Republic, the country provides credible and verifiable pandemic data and cooperates in the framework of international organizations in the fight against the pandemic.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health strongly advises that citizens limit travel, as the risk of spreading Covid-19 mutation must be minimized.
