Travel update: new rules for entering the Czech Republic take effect this week

A negative coronavirus test will be required again on arrival in the Czech Republic from Spain as of Thursday, for both Czechs and foreigners, as Spain becomes red on the traffic lights travel map. An exception will be the Canary Islands which will remain orange.

Meanwhile, a negative antigen or PCR coronavirus test will be required on arrival from those who spent over 12 hours in Britain or Northern Ireland in the past 14 days, Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek announced in a press conference on updating the protective measures Monday.

This change goes into effect from today, Tuesday, Jan. 5.

The test must be performed in Britain a minimum of 72 hours prior to travel. Home quarantine will remain compulsory on arrival from Britain, with people being able to undergo another test after five days.

The condition of a negative test applies to the arrivals by air, bus, and also by car, with measures coming into effect today Petricek said.

Anyone who spent at least 24 hours in Britain, will have to quarantine themselves on arrival in the Czech Republic. On the fifth to the seventh day following their arrival, they will need to undergo a COVID-19 test. If the test is negative, their quarantine ends. If they test positive, they must remain in home isolation for ten days.

The Czech Republic tightened its rules for arrivals from Britain toward the end of December over the new, more contagious mutation of coronavirus detected in England. It has recently been found in neighboring Slovakia.

On the traffic lights map, a country is green if it performs a sufficient number of coronavirus tests, saw fewer than 25 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past two weeks, and had the tests positivity rate below 4 percent.

Out of European countries, this applies only to Vatican City. Of the non-European countries, Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand are currently green.

The medium-size risk or orange countries are those with a test positivity rate over 4 percent and fewer than 250 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks. Only long-standing workers arriving from these states, but not commuters, must submit a negative test for coronavirus on arrival in the Czech Republic.

As of Thursday, the orange group will include Finland, France, Ireland, Iceland, Malta, Norway, Greece, the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira.

The high-risk countries are those with a test positivity rate of over 4 percent and more than 250 coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past two weeks. The passengers who spent over 12 hours in these states in the past 14 days have to fill in an arrival form before entering the Czech Republic.

After arrival, they must undergo a PCR test in five days and have to submit the test result to the public health authorities in seven days since the arrival.

It is also possible to submit a PCR test result from any EU country on arrival if it is not older than 72 hours.