Citizens from Finland, Latvia, and the Azores will be subject to stricter entry rules upon their arrival in the Czech Republic, as the latter’s authorities have placed these territories in the dark red category, which consists of countries profoundly affected by the spread of the Coronavirus.

In addition, Poland and Germany have been placed on the red list, which consists of countries that have reported high rates of COVID-19 and its new strains, especially the Omicron variant, in the last two weeks, the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Health has announced.

The same Ministry has announced that Romania is now part of the orange list, which includes medium-risk countries in terms of the Coronavirus situation.

Authorities in the Czech Republic continue to classify other territories into green, yellow, red, and dark red categories, taking into account the Coronavirus situation in them.

Travellers from countries included in the green list are exempted from additional requirements upon their arrival in Czechia, such as testing and quarantine requirements.

Besides the Vatican City State, the following non-EU countries belong to Czechia’s green list:

Australia, Argentina, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Qatar, Korea, Kuwait, Canada, Macao, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Peru, Rwanda, United Arab Emirates, the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, and Taiwan.

The orange category, which consists of countries that pose a medium risk in terms of the Coronavirus situation, at present includes only Romania.

Arrivals from countries included in Czechia’s orange list are obliged to present a negative result of the Coronavirus test, only if they have used any form of public transportation in order to return to the Czech Republic.

Czech Republic’s red category at present includes Austria, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Germany.

Travellers from countries included in the red list must undergo a testing process before entering the Czech Republic.

Besides, all persons are required to provide a second negative PCR test taken in the Czech Republic within five days of entry and follow quarantine rules until a negative result is received.

As for the dark red list of countries that includes territories that have recently been profoundly affected by the Coronavirus and its new strains, at present includes the following territories: Austria, Andorra, Denmark, Belgium, France, Croatia, Finland, Italy, Malta, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Cyprus,  Iceland, Monaco, Ireland, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Portugal incl. Madeira and Azores, San Marino, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, including Balearic and Canary Islands, Sweden, as well as Switzerland.

Arrivals from countries included in the red and dark red categories are subject to the exact entry requirements upon their arrival in Czechia. In addition, they are also required to fill in the arrival form before returning to the Central European country.

However, Czechia’s Ministry of Health has clarified that all persons who have completed their vaccination process against the Coronavirus are exempted from additional entry requirements.

“The conditions for testing when returning from abroad do not apply to Czech citizens and foreigners with a residence permit who have completed vaccinations or have contracted covid-19 in the last 180 days. All they have to do is fill in the arrival form. Regardless of the category of the country,” the statement reads.