Country assessment for week 36 (6–12 September): Changes to entry restrictions for several countries and areas

This decision is based on an updated assessment of the infection rate by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The purpose of the restrictions is to reduce the risk of imported cases of COVID-19. All of the changes will enter into effect on Monday 6 September at 12 am.

The changes will appear in the COVID-19 Regulations and the interactive map on FHI.no from Monday 6 September.

Countries in Europe
Entry restrictions and a quarantine requirement are being introduced for Romania, which will change category from green to orange.

The following countries will remain green:

Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

The following countries will remain orange or red, or change from orange to red (the same rules apply to orange and red countries):

Orange: Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Croatia, Luxembourg, Austria, Latvia, Malta, and Romania (will change from green).

Red: Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Greece, France, Estonia, Belgium, Lithuania, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Bulgaria, Germany, Andorra, Monaco, Spain, Slovenia (will change from orange) and the Netherlands (will change from orange).

The following countries will continue to be dark red and trigger a duty to stay at a quarantine hotel:
Cyprus and the UK.

Regions and autonomous regions in the Nordic countries
The Nordic countries and areas will continue to be assessed by region. The main reason for this is that we have sufficient data to make such assessments.

Sweden
No changes are being made to the entry restrictions and quarantine requirements for regions in Sweden. There are still no green regions in Sweden.

Thefollowing regions will remain orange or red (the same rules apply to orange and red regions):

Orange: Norrbotten, Södermanland, Uppsala, Blekinge, Dalarna, Västernorrland, and Kronoberg.

Red: Gotland, Halland, Stockholm, Värmland, Västerbotten, Västmanland, Örebro, Västra Götaland, Skåne, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Jönkjöping, Kalmar, and Östergötland.

Denmark
No changes to entry restrictions or quarantine requirements. All regions in Denmark continue to be subject to entry restrictions and quarantine requirements.

As for autonomous regions, the Faeroe Islands will continue to be green, while Greenland will remain red.

The following regions will remain orange or red:

Orange: Zealand and Southern Denmark.

Red: The capital (including Copenhagen), Central Denmark, and North Jutland.

Finland
No changes are being made to the entry restrictions and quarantine requirements for regions in Finland.

The following regions will remain green:

Länsi-Pohja and the Åland Islands.

Thefollowing regions will remain orange or red, or change from orange to red (the same rules apply to orange and red regions):

Orange: Kymmenlaakso, Central Finland, South Savo, Central Tavastland, Satakunta, North Karelia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, Päijat-Häme, Vaasa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, East Savo, Lapland, Pirkanmaa, and South Karelia.

Red: Helsinki-Uusimaa, Southwest Finland, and Kainuu (will change from orange).

Selected archipelagos in Europe
Selected archipelagos will be assessed separately in order to allow safe travel to islands that are popular holiday destinations for Norwegians. No changes are being made to the entry restrictions and quarantine requirements for any of the relevant archipelagos.

The following archipelagos will remain red:
The Azores (Portugal), the Canary Islands (Spain), Sardinia (Italy), Sicily (Italy), the Northern Aegean Islands (Greece), the Balearic Islands (Spain), and Madeira (Portugal).

The following archipelagos will remain dark red and trigger a duty to stay at a quarantine hotel:

Crete (Greece), Corsica (France), the Southern Aegean Islands (Greece), and the Ionian Islands (Greece).

Purple countries
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health assesses the countries and areas on the EU's list of third countries which have an infection rate that warrants slightly lighter entry restrictions when travelling to Norway, such as an exemption from the duty to stay at a quarantine hotel. These countries and areas are known as 'purple countries'. See further information in the box below.

Changes to the EU's list of third countries:
A new assessment of the countries on the European Commission's list of third countries was made on 26 August. Six countries have been removed from the list, and will no longer be assessed in accordance with the list of purple countries. The countries in question are Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and the USA.

These countries and areas will remain purple:

Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia.

Travel outside the EEA/Schengen and the UK still not advised
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs still advises against non-essential travel to countries outside the EEA/Schengen area and the UK. There are exemptions for a few areas and countries on the EU's list of third countries, known as purple countries. The travel advice is valid until 1 October 2021.

A text message with be sent to people with a Norwegian mobile phone subscription who are staying in the countries that will be subject to changed entry restrictions upon arrival in Norway.

This week's assessment
The changes are based on the weekly assessment by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health of areas in the Nordic region, countries, and selected archipelagos in Europe, in addition to selected countries on the EU's list of third countries. The assessments are based on the same threshold values as those applied in the EU.

The assessment this week (an even week) concerns whether the infection rate calls for stricter or lighter entry restrictions and quarantine requirements. The decision means that entry restrictions and a quarantine requirement have been introduced for one country in Europe.

If you travel from a green country but have a layover in a country with stricter quarantine requirements (for example orange, red, or dark red), the entry restrictions of the country you stop in will apply when you arrive in Norway. This means that if you are not a Norwegian citizen and have a layover in a country that is not green, you will not have the right to enter Norway.

New updates every week
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health assesses relevant countries and areas on a weekly basis. In even weeks, a broad-ranging assessment is made, based on the infection rate, of whether measures will be eased or tightened for the countries and areas. In odd weeks, the only assessment made is whether a country should have stricter rules (for example if it is changed from green to orange or red), based on the infection rate.

Updates to the country assessments are published on regjeringen.no every Friday at about 12 pm, and the changes enter into effect the following Monday at 12 am. The changes will appear in the COVID-19 Regulations and the interactive map on FHI.no

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