Portugal lifts quarantine rule for UK passengers
Passengers coming from Brazil, South Africa, and eleven European countries, including France and the Netherlands, are subject to a 14-days quarantine.
Passengers coming from the UK no longer need to quarantine when arriving at national airports, according to an executive order published this Friday in the Official Gazette of Portugal. On the other hand, passengers coming from Brazil and South Africa are still subject to a 14-day quarantine.
“Passengers on flights originating from South Africa, Brazil or Annex I countries with an incidence rate equal to or greater than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days” must quarantine for 14 days, “at home or at a place indicated by the health authorities” when entering Portugal. There are 11 countries that make up this specific annex and are therefore subject to a 14-day quarantine: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Croatia, Estonia, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden. In view of the previous order, the United Kingdom is excluded from this requirement.
The previous rule “applies to passengers on flights with initial origin in South Africa and Brazil, who have stopped off or transited through other airports, and to passengers on flights, regardless of origin, who present passports with a record of departure from South Africa and Brazil in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Portugal.”
Flights are suspended in general, except for repatriation flights, flights to EU countries and the Schengen area (some countries are subject to quarantine, as mentioned) and “special countries and administrative regions whose epidemiological situation is in accordance with the recommendation” of the EU (Australia, China, South Korea, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau).
Furthermore, airlines should only allow passengers to board “upon presentation of proof of a negative RT-PCR molecular test for SARS-CoV-2 infection carried out within 72 hours prior to boarding. With passengers coming from South Africa or Brazil, the Foreigners and Borders Service is responsible for communicating the data collected to the health authorities for analysis of the coronavirus variants.”
