Travelers from more countries in the European Union and the Schengen area will be subject to quarantine obligations upon arrival in Norway, as of January 10, 2022.

In a statement released Friday, January 7, the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services announced that travelers from seven regions of Finland, four regions of Sweden and the archipelagos of Sardinia and the Azores would be subject to the quarantine obligation, from from the following Monday.

The decision was made based on the rates of COVID-19 reported in these areas during the last two weeks of December 2021.

“There is now only one country, Romania, which has no entry quarantine requirements.“, Notes the ministry, stressing that the travelers of all the other countries of the EU and the Schengen area must be quarantined on their arrival.

Explaining the rules that apply to these countries, categorized as red, dark red and gray, the ministry notes that the quarantine requirement does not apply to those who have been ill with COVID-19 in the past six last months. At the same time, people vaccinated against COVID-19 are also exempt, as well as those under the age of 18.

Travelers subject to the isolation requirement can shorten this period if they take a PCR test three days after arriving in Norway, at the earliest.

In 2022, Norway will continue to apply restrictions on travel from the Schengen area and other countries around the world based on color-coded maps by separating countries and regions into four colors: green, orange, red and dark red.

While for weeks no country has been colored green, Romania is the only one in the orange category for another consecutive week. At the same time, Bulgaria is the only country in the red category. Unlike Romanians, unvaccinated and unhealed Bulgarians must be quarantined upon arrival in Norway.

The dark red category, on the other hand, includes Andorra, Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Iceland, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Vatican City and Austria.

Previously, Italy, Iceland, Latvia, Malta, San Marino, Spain and Vatican City were marked in red. From Monday they will all be dark red. However, travelers from these countries will not notice any changes in travel rules, as Norway has the same restrictions for travelers in the red and dark red zones.

Likewise, the majority of northern regions are classified as dark red, and only a few remain on the red list.

The last time the lists were revised was on December 17, when the entry quarantine was introduced for arrivals from Italian Sicily, Kajanaland and Satakunta regions in Finland, as well as from regions of Dalarna, Jämtland, Jönköping and Södermanland in Sweden.

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