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    Removal of current travel quarantine requirements

    News story | Date: 25/01/2022 | Ministry of Health and Care Services

    This content is more than 2 years old.

    Following a recommendation from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Norwegian Government is removing the requirement of travel quarantine. It is no longer considered necessary on the grounds of infection control. The requirement will be removed from 26 January 2022 at 12 am.

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    At present, people who arrive in Norway from an area that triggers a duty to quarantine and cannot produce a valid COVID-19 certificate showing that they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 must complete travel quarantine.

    However, the 10-day travel quarantine period may end early if a negative result is presented from a test taken no sooner than 3 days after arrival. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has pointed out that travellers ‘without a COVID-19 certificate’ constitute 7 per cent of registered travellers, and 4 per cent of cases of COVID-19. It has therefore concluded that the measure has little impact on developments in the COVID-19 situation or on hospital capacity in Norway, and does not consider travel quarantine to be necessary in the present situation.

    ‘I agree with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health that in light of the low proportion of confirmed cases of COVID-19 among arriving travellers without a COVID-19 certificate, compared with the current status of the pandemic in Norway, the time has come to change the travel quarantine requirement,’ says Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol.

    ‘Removing travel quarantine will help society reopen more quickly, as it will simplify entry into Norway. This can have positive socio-economic consequences for the business sector in general, and the travel industry in particular.

    Travellers still need to get tested and complete entry registration upon arrival in Norway. The requirement of documentation of a negative test taken before arrival continues to apply to people who cannot produce a COVID-19 certificate showing that they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19.

    It is important to remember that people who enter the country must get tested if they develop symptoms and must go into isolation if they receive a positive test result. People who are already in travel quarantine may exit quarantine from 26 January at 12 am.

    ‘An important reason why I think that we should now remove the requirement of travel quarantine is the need to look at transmission quarantine and travel quarantine as a whole.

    Transmission quarantine for close contacts who are not household members or corresponding close relations has already been removed. From 26 January, it will be possible to replace transmission quarantine for household members and corresponding close relations with daily testing,’ states Ms Kjerkol.

    Travel quarantine may be reintroduced if the infection situation changes or a new virus variant appears which requires stricter measures.

    The Norwegian Government will make an overall assessment of all entry restrictions, including test requirements at the border, and present its findings at the beginning of February.

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