As of Monday Czechs returning from Serbia, Montenegro must test or quarantine

Prague, July 10 (CTK) – The Czech Health Ministry has put Serbia and Montenegro on the list of the states with a high risk of COVID-19 infection, and as of Monday, July 13, Czechs returning from there have to either undergo a coronavirus test or quarantine themselves, the ministry told CTK today.

The Czech Republic has taken the step in reaction to the worsened epidemiological situation in Serbia and Montenegro, according to the information the Health Ministry and the Foreign Ministry released to CTK.

Within the “traffic lights” system, Serbia and Montenegro have been in the green group of the states with a low infection risk until now, but both have seen the number of COVID-19 cases sharply rise in the past week, by more than 50 per 100,000 inhabitants.

“Serbia and Montenegro are being transferred from the green category to the category of red non-EU countries, to which specific protective measures apply,” the Health Ministry wrote in a press release.

The only EU country on the Czech list of the red-category states is Sweden. The other European countries are in the group of low-risk countries.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Stichova told CTK that from Monday on, Serbian and Montenegrin nationals can enter the Czech Republic only based on clearly defined reasons such as a job, family, health reasons or urgent extraordinary situations.

On arrival from Sweden, too, Czechs as well as foreigners have to undergo a test or stay in two-week quarantine.

Unlike Serbs and Montenegrins, however, Swedes can enter Czechia without explaining the reason for their arrival, and can, therefore, arrive for tourist purposes.

The Czech government launched the traffic lights system assessing the coronavirus infection risk in individual European countries and setting the rules for the arrivals accordingly in mid-June.