The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has added more Finnish region to the list of high-risk areas, advising its citizens to avoid any non-essential trips to this part of Finland.
Starting from November 21, and based on the National Institute of Public Health’s weekly assessment of the COVID-19 infection situation in Europe, the government has decided to place the hospital district Södra Savolax of Finland in the red.
“All travelers from this area who come to Norway from midnight, the night to Saturday, November 21, will be quarantined for ten days,” the press release reads, adding that there will be no changes in the travel advice for other EU/EEA/Schengen countries.
Last week, the Ministry had removed three regions in Finland from the list of the high-risk regions in Europe – Northern Savonia, Central Häme, and Central Finland – after the number of COVID-19 cases registered in these zones marked a decrease.
The change in the level of risk for these regions in Finland as a result of Norway’s government’s new threshold value for entry quarantine, which increased from 20 to 25 infected per 100,000 in the last two weeks.
According to the same threshold, currently, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises Norwegian citizens against travel to the following European countries:
- Andorra
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Estonia
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- the Netherlands
- United Kingdom
- Vatican City
- regions and territories of Denmark and Finland
The MFA advises all Norwegians traveling abroad to be careful and to be informed in advance on entry restrictions in Norway and their destination country/countries.
“People who have come from countries that subsequently receive red status must pay special attention to the symptoms of covid-19. It is very important that they test themselves if they get symptoms and are careful with hand hygiene and keeping at least one meter away from others,” the Ministry advises in a press release.
It also advises Norwegians that non-essential travel to third-countries must be avoided at least until January 15, 2021, except for the countries exempted based on the recommendation of the EU Commission of October 22.
According to statistics published by Worldometers, Norway has marked 31,441 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic (5,782 per one million population)., Whereas the number of cases registered in Finland is at 20,747 (3,742 per one million population).
