The Norwegian authorities have announced that the country will end its mandatory quarantine requirement that currently applies to unvaccinated travellers who reach the country as well as to close contacts of infected persons.
“Following a recommendation from the National Institute of Public Health, the government is abolishing the requirement for entry quarantine because it is no longer considered necessary for infection control,” the Norwegian Ministry of Health stated.
According to a press release issued by the Norwegian Ministry of Health, the decision to end the quarantine requirement was taken since the country thinks that this measure is no longer necessary to control the spread of the virus, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
The Norwegian National Institute of Public Health has pointed out that travellers who don’t hold a vaccination certificate make up only 7 per cent of the total number of persons who entered the country. Meanwhile, 4 per cent of them have been cases of infection.
Therefore, since the quarantine rule currently has little to no significance when it comes to halting the spread of the virus, starting from tomorrow, January 26, all unvaccinated and unrecovered travellers will be permitted entry to Norway without having to follow the quarantine requirement.
“I agree with FHI that the proportion of infected among travellers without a corona certificate is so small related to the infection situation we have in Norway now, that the time has come to change the requirement for entry quarantine,” the Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol, said, in support of the new decision.
Nonetheless, it has been emphasised that travellers who haven’t been vaccinated or recovered from the virus are still required to take a pre-entry test.
In contrast, travellers who have received all the required vaccine doses, as well as those who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease, are not required to follow any additional entry rules.
In addition, the lifting of the quarantine requirement applies to close contacts of infected persons, too. This means that all those who have had close contact with an infected person will no longer be required to follow the self-isolation rule provided that they undergo daily tests.
“From January 26, the infection quarantine for household members and similar relatives will be possible to replace with daily testing,” Kjerkol added.
Even though the quarantine requirement will soon be officially removed, the authorities have highlighted that they can introduce self-isolation rules again if the COVID-19 situation worsens or if a new variant starts circulating.
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