In Europe, any apparent restriction has come to an end. On May 16, the Austrian government, which had previously fought hard against Covid-19 and unvaccinated citizens, lifted the last explicit bans: travelers from all over the world were allowed to enter without restrictions, ending difficult travel conditions between European countries. The official travel portal of Austria announced the news about the abolition of measures to combat coronavirus at the entrance.
“Travel to Austria is possible for tourist purposes. From May 16, confirmation of vaccination / recovery or test is no longer required,” the portal said.
In other words, tourists, regardless of their country of origin, can now travel to Austria for any purpose without presenting a valid certificate of vaccination, recovery or testing on arrival. In addition, those who enter no longer need to fill out a pre-registration form. We will remind, earlier this requirement extended to those who didn’t have any of medical certificates.
In addition to repealing its entry rules, Austria has already lifted internal restrictions: tourists are no longer required to wear a protective mask or present a 3G pass when visiting various public places and events, such as cafes, restaurants and hotels.
It is believed that the Austrian authorities have decided to abolish the rules of entry and have now opened the border to all travelers due to the low incidence in the country. Thus, according to the WHO, 29,576 new cases of COVID-19 infection have been registered in Austria in the last seven days.
In addition, the portal states that Austria has a high vaccination rate. As of May 12, 83.1% of the adult population received the first component of the vaccine, and 68.7% received an additional dose of the vaccine.
With the exception of Austria, 15 other EU / EEA countries have also renounced all their COVID-19 entry rules. These include Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland. All travelers can enter the above-mentioned countries without restrictions, even if they do not have a valid vaccination certificate, as well as a certificate of illness or a negative PCR test. However, some popular European destinations, especially Germany and Portugal, have retained the conditions of entry.