Czech Covid-map update: U.S., Israel move to 'very-high-risk' category from Monday

From Monday, new conditions for returning to the Czech Republic from Montenegro, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Northern Macedonia, and the United States will go into effect.

According to the latest update from the Ministry of Health, these countries will move from green to the dark red, 'very high risk' category on the Covid-risk travel map from August 23.

Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Spain and the Balearic Islands and Switzerland will shift to red on the map which indicates a high risk of Covid-19.

Green-category European countries with a low risk of infection will be Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and the Vatican City. Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Canada, Qatar, Macao, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Taiwan are among low-risk non-European countries.

Croatia, Luxembourg, Latvia, Austria, Italy, Finland, Malta, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Slovenia and also Madeira, Portugal will be categorized as medium-risk (orange) countries.

When returning from the green and orange countries, passengers must undergo an antigen or PCR test no later than five days after arrival. While waiting for the results, however, those passengers do not need to quarantine.

From Monday, Andorra, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Estonia, France, Greece, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain including the Canary Islands, and Portugal including the Azores will be in the 'high risk' (red) category countries.

Passengers arriving from red or dark red countries by public transport must take a test before returning. Upon their return, they are also required to undergo a PCR test between the fifth and 14th day and must remain in quarantine while awaiting the results.

Due to the possible spread of coronavirus mutations, the Ministry of Health strongly recommends avoiding travel to countries with an extreme risk (black) for Covid infection. These countries are Brazil, Colombia, Mozambique, Nepal, Paraguay, Peru and Tanzania, including the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba. After returning from these countries, people are obliged to stay in self-isolation for ten days and undergo a PCR test.

The obligation to test and self-isolate does not apply to people who have completed vaccinations or have confirmation that they had Covid-19 in the past 180 days. The complete map of travel categories and conditions of arrival can be found on the Ministry of Health website.

From Monday, the Czech Republic will also recognize, with a verifiable certificate, vaccination of third-country nationals who completed vaccination in a non-EU country with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency or the World Health Organization.

This represents an important change for citizens of the UK who were previously only able to enter the country for purposes of essential travel and will now be permitted to enter the Czech Republic as tourists (if fully vaccinated).

In addition, foreigners who are family members of citizens of the Czech Republic or other EU nationals may also arrive in the country and submit visa applications.