Northern Europe during Pandemic -- Summers 2020 & 2021 & onwards

[Dockhead]

Were you thinking about coming to Sweden for a visit from the U.S.? Well, you can scratch that off your list. As of today, even fully vaccinated yanks are not welcome:

http://api-esp.piano.io/-c/61/13438/...ttrs=0&order=0

Sweden's borders have been closed to the world beyond the EU for the whole pandemic. They have not followed the trend in the rest of the Nordic region to allow most anyone who is fully vaxxed. There is a short list of "safe" non-EU countries to which this does not apply, but the U.S. has now been removed.

Norway has a similar policy, but Finland and Denmark allow fully vaxxed Americans and it seems that once you have entered one of those countries, you COULD go to Sweden from there.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Were you thinking about coming to Sweden for a visit from the U.S.? Well, you can scratch that off your list. As of today, even fully vaccinated yanks are not welcome:

http://api-esp.piano.io/-c/61/13438/...ttrs=0&order=0

Sweden's borders have been closed to the world beyond the EU for the whole pandemic. They have not followed the trend in the rest of the Nordic region to allow most anyone who is fully vaxxed. There is a short list of "safe" non-EU countries to which this does not apply, but the U.S. has now been removed.

Norway has a similar policy, but Finland and Denmark allow fully vaxxed Americans and it seems that once you have entered one of those countries, you COULD go to Sweden from there.

That's not correct. US residents are still exempted from the travel ban.


https://www.krisinformation.se/en/ha...l-restrictions

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Anders

That's not correct. US residents are still exempted from the travel ban.


https://www.krisinformation.se/en/ha...l-restrictions

That information is not up to date. See the official Swedish Government notice:


https://www.government.se/press-rele...rth-macedonia/


"The adopted amendment means that the US, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia will be removed from the annex to the Ordinance. This means that residents of these countries will no longer be exempted from the entry ban solely on the ground that they reside there."

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Were you thinking about coming to Sweden for a visit from the U.S.? Well, you can scratch that off your list. As of today, even fully vaccinated yanks are not welcome…….

Norway has a similar policy, but Finland and Denmark allow fully vaxxed Americans and it seems that once you have entered one of those countries, you COULD go to Sweden from there.

The Swedish regulations are extremely confusing.

My interpretation is that US residents no longer have an exemption simply because they reside in the US, but if they are travelling from any EU or Nordic country they are permitted entry.

When travelling from a Nordic country there are even no requirements for them to have “a negative Covid-19 test, recovery or vaccination”, otherwise this is needed.

SWL

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

The Swedish regulations are extremely confusing.

My interpretation is that US residents no longer have an exemption simply because they reside in the US, but if they are travelling from any EU or Nordic country they are permitted entry.

When travelling from a Nordic country there are even no requirements for them to have “a negative Covid-19 test, recovery or vaccination”, otherwise this is needed.

SWL

The Swedes are respecting a Nordic travel bubble, so you can probably enter from another Nordic country, but I wouldn't count on it from a non-Nordic country.


UNLESS you sail in. The Swedes are now following the Finnish system of allowing people to come by yacht from anywhere in Europe, for any reason, any time, with no test, no vax, no document check, no questions. Highly civilized!

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

The Swedes are respecting a Nordic travel bubble, so you can probably enter from another Nordic country, but I wouldn't count on it from a non-Nordic country.


UNLESS you sail in. The Swedes are now following the Finnish system of allowing people to come by yacht from anywhere in Europe, for any reason, any time, with no test, no vax, no document check, no questions. Highly civilized!

I am only going by this statement:

“Foreign nationals from countries outside the EU/EEA can enter Sweden from EU/EEA countries if they can present a certificate proving a negative Covid-19 test no more than 48 hours old. This requirement does not apply if you travel from Denmark, Finland, Iceland or Norway.”

https://www.krisinformation.se/en/ha...l-restrictions

The whole document was confusing with distinction seemingly made between travelling from a certain country and being resident of that country in different sections.

SWL

[Seaworthy Lass]

PS It was the last bullet point in that section. It seemed to be independent of the other bullet points.

I would rely on your interpretation rather than mine, but if I have misinterpreted the statement then I think the information has been presented in a very misleading manner.

[Dockhead]

Sweden has announced lifting most of the meausures at the end of September:

https://www.thelocal.se/20210907/wil...-in-september/

During most of 2021, Sweden's measures have been somewhat stricter than the rest of the the Nordic region, and often much stricter than in other European countries, like Germany, which have varied the measures sharply from time to time depending on the infection rate. The Nordic and especially Swedish approach has been to leavel measures in place long term and now swing back and forth.

Now the authorities are feeling pretty confident so finally they are talking about releasing the remaining measures. That's big news because many o fthese measures have been in place since continuously since March, 2020. Their confidence is based on success with the vaccination program (about 130 vaccine doses per 100 people put into arms as of now) and low stress on hospitals. We'll see what the situation is at the end of the month, but I wish them the best.

[goboatingnow]

While not Northern Europe , just some news that Greece is introducing lots of new rules that affect the unvaccinated from sept 13. You can now be dismissed from your job , you will not be allowed into most indoor public spaces, testing will no longer be free. All transport will require either rapid tests or vaccine certs. (including busses )

It’s going to get extremely restrictive for those not vaccinated.

Mandatory mask wearing in all indoor settings remain


It also looks like additional travel rules will be imposed after the end of the tourist season

Delta here is causing a lot of concerns.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

While not Northern Europe , just some news that Greece is introducing lots of new rules that affect the unvaccinated from sept 13. You can now be dismissed from your job , you will not be allowed into most indoor public spaces, testing will no longer be free. All transport will require either rapid tests or vaccine certs. (including busses )

It’s going to get extremely restrictive for those not vaccinated.

Mandatory mask wearing in all indoor settings remain

It also looks like additional travel rules will be imposed after the end of the tourist season

Delta here is causing a lot of concerns.

That's going to be controversial, and there are some pretty good libertarian arguments against doing it that way.


I am not going say a word against it, however. I recognize and admit that I am biased since I am really pro-vaccination and don't see any rational reason to avoid vaccination, even for young and healthy people. But this is bias -- there are wise people who look at it differently. So I will stay out of this.

[bil56]

in France, 9/10 of seriously ill patients in hospital are not vaccinated ...

[GordMay]

The Dutch government announced, on Tuesday, Sept 14, they are easing COVID-19 restrictions and will introduce a "corona" pass showing proof of vaccination to go to bars, restaurants, clubs or cultural events.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said most social distancing requirements will be dropped from Sept. 25.
More ➥ https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19

Specifically ➥ https://www.government.nl/latest/new...s-entry-passes

[Anders]

12 to 15 year old in the UK will now be offered one Pfizer jab.
The previously announced policy of requiring covid passport to go to nightclubs has surprisingly been scrapped in England but is going ahead in Scotland as planned.

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by Anders

12 to 15 year old in the UK will now be offered one Pfizer jab.
The previously announced policy of requiring covid passport to go to nightclubs has surprisingly been scrapped in England but is going ahead in Scotland as planned.

Finally they get reasonable.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Since sneezing is now one of the top 5 symptoms for the vaccinated catching the Delta variant of COVID-19, a recent study suggests a useful new means of providing relief:

https://theconversation.com/forget-n...ore-fun-167901

I suggest a little lot more research is needed to validate this .

SWL