Netherlands Imposes Compulsory Rapid Tests for Citizens of UK, Ireland and South Africa
All persons wishing to enter the Netherlands by aircraft from Ireland, South Africa, or the United Kingdom will be obliged to present proof of a negative result of the rapid Coronavirus test, before departure, the Netherland’s government has announced through a statement.
According to the government’s statement, the new decision is an additional requirement to the negative PCR test, which should be conducted no more than 72 hours before entering the Netherlands, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
Persons working in the transport sector, “such as lorry drivers, and to ferry and airline crews,” will also be included in the Netherlands’ recent decision, the statement clarifies.
“The government has announced this additional measure in order further to reduce the risk of the new coronavirus variants spreading. The rapid test requirement already applies to people traveling to the Netherlands from the UK via the Eurotunnel or Eurostar,” the statement reads.
Authorities in the Netherlands are working closely with Belgium and France, in order to prevent the spread of the new variant of the virus, which was identified in the United Kingdom and is spreading rapidly to some other countries.
The government has once again urged its citizens not to travel aboard, unless absolutely necessary, due to the current pandemic situation while clarifying that the newly introduced measures will take effect in the next few days.
On Tuesday the Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte revealed that the government plans to prolong its imposed COVID-19 restriction by three weeks, until February 9, due to the spread of the Coronavirus disease’s new variant.
Even though the number of COVID-19 infections in the Netherlands marked a decrease in recent weeks, as a result of the lockdown imposed last month, the health officials consider that the daily rates of infections remain too high.
On December 29, authorities in the Netherland stressed that all persons entering the country from another Member State of the European Union or the Schengen Zone must present a negative result of the Coronavirus test, not older than 72 hours.
In December, the Netherlands’ authorities also announced that internationals who are not part of the European Union “safe countries of origin” list, and who are excluded from the European Union travel ban, would not be permitted to enter the country from December 15, if they fail to present a document showing they have tested negative for COVID-19.
The Netherlands has registered 889,221 cases of infections, as yet, while 12,685 persons have died, based on Worldometers’ statistics.
