Quarantine rules tightened for travellers from 12 countries

The Dutch government has reimposed mandatory quarantine for travellers arriving from 12 countries, including Turkey and Surinam, from Tuesday.

People who received a booster vaccine at least seven days before travelling will be exempt from the 10-day quarantine period.

All travellers will have to produce a negative test result from either a PCR test taken in the previous 48 hours or an antigen test taken in the previous 24 hours.

The other countries added to the very high-risk list are Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Lebanon, Tunisia, Costa Rica, Panama, Guyana and Bolivia.

A spokesman for the foreign affairs ministry said the rules had been changed on the advice of the RIVM in response to a rapid rise in infections in the affected countries.

But travel trade organisation ANVR said the rules were outdated and should be changed now that most people have been vaccinated. ‘It’s now about the status of the traveller, not the number of infections at the destination.’

Greece drops tests

On Monday Greece dropped the requirement for vaccinated travellers to take a coronavirus test before entering the country. The rule was brought in in December to limit the spread of the Omicron variant.

Latest figures for the Netherlands show 77,648 positive tests were recorded in the last 24 hours, while the seven-day average has gone up by 12.3% in the last week.

The number of coronavirus patients in hospital increased by 149 to 1,493, the highest level since January. There are currently 214 people being treated in intensive care for Covid-19.