The special entry restrictions that were introduced for travellers arriving from 8 countries in Southern Africa at the end of November will be removed. The measures were introduced to limit and delay the spread of the Omicron variant.
‘Omicron is now established in many countries, including Norway. The Norwegian Directorate of Health and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health believes that it is no longer expedient to keep specific measures that target travellers from these 8 countries. This is why the special measures are being removed. We are also keeping the strict general entry restrictions that apply to arrival in Norway,’ says Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol.
The special measures targeted travellers arriving from South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Malawi, where the virus variant was discovered. The change enter into effect as on 22 December at 12 am.
Measures that will be kept
The strict general entry measures that apply to arrival in Norway are kept. They include:
a requirement of entry registration for all travellers;
a general requirement for all travellers to get tested upon arrival in Norway;
a requirement of documentation of a negative test taken before arrival for people who cannot produce a verifiable COVID-19 certificate showing that they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 during the past 6 months;
travel quarantine for people who arrive from a country that triggers a duty to quarantine and who cannot produce a verifiable COVID-19 certificate showing that they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 during the past 6 months.
Measures that will be removed
The special measures that target travellers arriving from the 8 countries in Southern Africa that were removed on 22 December at 12 am are:
a requirement for travellers arriving in Norway on a direct flight from these countries not to disembark the plane;
a requirement of documentation of a negative test taken before arrival for all travellers;
travel quarantine for all travellers;
a requirement to stay at a quarantine hotel.
