Portugal Tightens Border Restrictions With Other EU Countries
Portugal’s government has tightened its border controls, prolonging its frontier restrictions along with other European Union Member States, amid the third wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.
In this regard, Portugal’s Interior Ministry pointed out that all travellers from the EU countries, where the incidence rate has surpassed 500 cases per 100,000 population, may be eligible to enter the country for essential business reasons and follow two weeks mandatory quarantine rule, AtoZSerwisPlus.pt reports.
Based on Portugal’s government announcement, the following 11 EU Member States countries will be subject to the border restrictions:
- Bulgaria
- The Czech Republic
- Cyprus
- Slovenia
- Estonia
- France
- Hungary
- Italy
- Malta
- Poland
- Sweden
Citizens of countries in which the incidence rate is greater than 150 per 100,000 are permitted only for essential trips, but they must follow quarantine rules.
Such a decision is applied to arrivals from the following countries, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, Finland, Latvia, Greece, Luxembourg, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, and Switzerland.
Travellers, whether by air or land, must show a negative result of the PCR test not older than 72 hours. In case those persons have not taken one, they will be obliged to undergo testing upon their arrival at the airport.
Authorities in Portugal have clarified that flights from the United Kingdom and Brazil will remain suspended.
Based on the announcement of authorities in Portugal, passengers will be required to follow the same COVID-19 rules introduced for Portuguese citizens once in the country. At present, travel is not allowed between different zones of the country until at least April 16.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has revealed that the average 14-day incidence rate for the EEA’s countries is currently at 434 cases per every 100,000 population.
Portugal has registered 820,716 cases of Coronavirus cases and 16,843 deaths, Worldometers’ figures show. The same source reveals that 775,849 persons have fully recovered from the Coronavirus, while there are 28,024 active cases.
The third wave of the Coronavirus pandemic has pushed governments of many European countries to tighten their controls in order to contain the virus from spreading.
Portugal’s neighbouring country, Spain, also decided to prolong its restrictions imposed on unnecessary travel from countries that are not part of the European Union and the Schengen Zone until April 30.
Both countries previously agreed to reintroduce internal land border controls, which are set to last until April 6, in order to help citizens of both territories be more protective from the deadly virus.
