Austria toughens entry conditions for travelers from the Czech Republic

Austria will start requiring a negative COVID test not older than 72 hours from people arriving from the Czech Republic starting on Saturday, with some exceptions, Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek tweeted on Friday.

The news comes amid the Czech Republic's growing number of new daily COVID-19 cases. The country has reported more than 70,000 new cases in the past seven days.

Austria has a growing number of new cases as well: the country reported 4,453 new cases in the past day, the first time that number has exceeded 4,000.

On Saturday, the Austrian government will announce a tightening of the anti-epidemic measures, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.

Out of the 4,453 new cases reported by the Austrian ministries of health and interior, the highest number, 1,074, was in Lower Austria, and 796 in Upper Austria, which are the two Austrian states bordering on the Czech Republic.

The Austrian press agency APA, nevertheless, pointed out that one day earlier, only 103 new cases were reported in Lower and Upper Austria together, and many of the latest cases were therefore probably registered additionally.

The Czech Republic's other neighbors, Germany and Slovakia, consider Czechia as a risk country as well.

Germany requires two-week quarantine from those entering it from Czechia, with most German states exempting those with a negative coronavirus test. Saxony has enabled entries from Czechia for 24 hours.

Slovakia requires a coronavirus test not older than 72 hours from those arriving from Czechia, with some exceptions, otherwise they have to quarantine themselves and undergo a test set.