Czech Republic adds Belgium and Netherlands to high-risk COVID-19 list
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Topics: CZECH BELGIUM NETHERLANDS
At the same time, Ireland and Malta will be placed on the red list of countries, while Iceland will move to the orange list, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Czechia’s Ministry of Health decision comes after taking into account the updated data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which shows the degree of risk which countries face from the spread of the virus.
Besides Belgium and the Netherlands, the Czech Republic’s red, dark category includes European Union countries and third countries that are not listed in other categories.
Ireland and Malta have recently registered many cases of COVID-19 infection; therefore there have been placed on the COVID-19 red list. This category includes countries highly affected by the disease.
At present, Czechia’s red list includes the following countries, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, Croatia, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Austria, Latvia, Germany, Greece, Romania, Switzerland, Slovakia, Spain as well as the Canary Islands.
As for the orange category, which includes countries that have reported fewer COVID-19 cases of infection than the dark red and red category, it currently comprises Portugal and the Azores and Baleric Islands. This category will also include Iceland from April 5.
At present, countries that have reported fewer cases of COVID-19 infection are the Vatican City State, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Singapore, therefore these countries are placed on the COVID-19 green list.
“Given the emergence of new mutations in covid-19 and community-wide spread across Europe, the ECDC recommends that all persons postpone travel unless absolutely necessary,” the statement reads.
Czech Republic’s Ministry of Health continues to urge all its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel abroad due to the spread of new variants of the virus.
In addition, the same ministry has banned travel to the following countries in which the COVID-19 has been roughly spread such as Botswana, South Africa, Brazil, Kenya, Lesotho, Colombia, Malawi, Peru, Mozambique, Swaziland/ Eswatini, Tanzania (including Zanzibar and Pemba), Zambia and Zimbabwe. ■