The quarantine requirement for travellers to the Netherlands from South Africa and other southern African countries, as well as Jordan, will disappear from Saturday, January 29, the foreign affairs ministry has confirmed.

From Saturday, southern Africa and Jordan will be classified as a high risk, rather than a very high risk areas, hence the end of quarantine.

The Omicron variant of coronavirus was first identified in South Africa and the EU imposed an entry ban on November 26. The ban has since been lifted although quarantine rules remained in force.

Vanaf 29 januari wijzigen #ZuidAfrika, #Zimbabwe, #Namibië, #Malawi, #Nigeria, #Lesotho, #Eswatini, #Mauritius en #Jordanië van ‘zeer hoog risico’ gebieden naar ‘hoog risico’ gebieden. Lees in de reisadviezen wat dit betekent: https://t.co/SKYL2DQy6M

— 24/7 BZ (@247BZ) January 28, 2022

Travellers will still have to have a negative coronavirus test to travel.

The government said earlier in the week that people travelling to the Netherlands from countries classified as very high-risk countries will no longer have to quarantine from February 2 if they have had a booster dose.

The rules apply to travellers from countries including the USA, Canada, Australia and Britain, provided they received their booster at least seven days before travelling.

They must still fill in a quarantine declaration form and show their proof of vaccination before entering the country, the Dutch government said on its website.

Travellers who are unvaccinated or have only had two vaccine doses will still have to spend 10 days in quarantine unless they are exempted for other reasons, such as people travelling for work, essential family visits or funerals.