Czechia to open for EU travellers from June 21
Holders of a vaccine, test or coronavirus recovery certificate be able to travel to the Czech Republic without the need to quarantine or get themselves tested from June 21, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch announced on Monday. From July 1 the country will exclusively accept the EU’s Covid Passports. The statement came in conjunction with a new round of restriction easing in the culture sector.
Following a government meeting on Monday, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch announced plans to open up the country quite substantially for foreign travellers towards the end of this month.
“We have made changes which will enable people from all EU member states to travel to the Czech Republic without restrictions from June 21. Of course, this is under the condition that those travellers fulfil the same rules that are now in place for the seven countries with which we currently have bilateral agreements.”
The seven countries Mr Vojtěch referred to are Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia, whose citizens have been able to travel into the Czech Republic without restrictions since June 1, as long as they are vaccinated. However, Mr Vojtěch said certificates of a valid COVID-19 test or of a recovery from the virus within a given time frame will also be accepted.
From July 1st, the country will exclusively accept the EU’s Covid Passports. These will come in three variants: a vaccination passport, a test certificate, or a so-called recovery certificate. The latter can be provided if the individual has recovered from the infection in the past 180 days.
Foreign nationals residing in the EU will also be able to acquire the Covid Passport. The same rules will also apply for people living in the Czech Republic who wish to travel to other EU member states.
Negotiations on a similar travel criterion are currently underway with Serbia, Mr Vojtěch said.
When it comes to non-EU residents, vaccinated citizens of Australia, Israel, Thailand, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea have been able to travel to Czechia from the beginning of June.
The Health Minister also announced a new easing of restrictions, which start this Tuesday. Indoor cultural events can now host up to a 1,000 visitors and outdoor events up to 2,000, as long as all guests have seating space and their number does not exceed 50 percent of the venue’s maximum capacity.
Furthermore, the sale of refreshments is now again allowed at cultural events. This includes cinemas. Large multiplexes have remained closed until now, their management saying that they were unable to make a profit without being able to sell refreshments. Since Monday’s announcement, several of them have said that they will reopen during the middle of this week.
The government also stated that, from Monday next week, there will be no more restrictions on how many people can attend outdoor events, neither will capacity be limited to seated spaces as long as each guests has at least 4 square meters of space. Meanwhile, indoor venues will still have to limit themselves to not exceeding 50 percent of maximum capacity.
Aside from increasing the accessibility of culture and travel, the government also announced that regular testing for COVID-19 will not be compulsory for people going to work, or students going to schools or universities from July 1.
The wearing of facemasks is also no longer compulsory in schools during teaching. Ending the requirement to wear masks and respirators at workplaces is also currently being considered by the government, said Mr Vojtěch.
