News from Norway about international travelling
There is another press release concerning international travelling. Non-Norwegians may initially get the impression that the release is not too exciting, but there is some good stuff hidden in the beaurocratic wording of the release, especially near the end. It starts on a lower level of excitement: the colours of the FHI chart, which is important information for European travellers, are now matching European colours again. Which is nice for everybody who prefers green above yellow, but it doesn’t change much. The latest FHI map, updated today (21 June), shows only two European countries outside Scandinavia in green, namely Poland and Romania.
Norway will lift travel warnings for Europe (Schengen treaty countries), the UK and and a range of other countries from 05 July, subject to future warnings that may be issued at any time as needed. But this is relevant for Norwgians who want to travel abroad rather than non-Norwegians who want to travel to Norway. Also family visits will be easier: so far limited to first-grade relatives, the list of persons who may visit family in Norway is now getting longer, including for example grandparents. That is great for everybody concerned, but not a game changer for people wishing to travel to Norway in general.
Norway joins the European vaccination certificate system, which may make it significantly easier to get some fresh arctic wind around the nose this summer for those who have plans.
Corona infection values will be “harmonised with Europe”
Further down in the press release in question, a harmonisation of infection thresholds that countries need to stay under in order to travel to Norway without quarantine is mentioned. This may initially not sound too exciting, but it means that the threshold will be lifted from 25 infections per 100,000 people within 14 days to 50, something that may be an important change, as the old threshold of 25 is easy to miss even for countries with a good development, while 50 gives some more room for smaller outbreaks to not ruin everyodies travel plans. This change will enter force on 05 July.
And there is yet another important update: from 24 June, European travellers can use the European digital vaccination certificate to document their vaccinations or previous infections, and fully immunised travellers will be able to enter Norway regardless of the status of the country where they have stayed before entering Norway. This may indeed change things for many people.