Covid-19: Italy, Belgium tighten restrictions on Bulgarian arrivals
Italy has once again extended the requirement that arrivals from Bulgaria or Romania must spend 14 days in quarantine until October 7, while Belgium tightened restrictions on arrivals from north-western Bulgaria, travel updates from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said.
Italy’s extension of the quarantine order on Bulgarian and Romanian arrivals is the third time it did so. It was initially issued on July 25, valid until July 31, but was later extended to August 10 and again to September 7.
It applies to any travellers that have resided or transited through either country in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Italy. Upon arrival at the border, the travellers will be asked to fill a form with the address of the place where they will be self-isolating.
The requirement did not apply to transport staff and crews, or people passing through Italy on their way to San Marino or the Vatican. People travelling on business, using special security protocols approved by medical authorities were also exempt, the ministry said.
Similarly, travellers in transit at airports would not be required to quarantine, provided that they did not leave the transit-only areas.
Additionally, the Foreign Ministry said that Belgium has moved north-western Bulgaria – the districts of Vidin, Vratsa, Lom and Montana – from its list of “green zones” and placed it in its “orange zones” list.
This means that people arriving from that part of Bulgaria are recommended to quarantine for 14 days and undergo a PCR test on arrival in Belgium.
Belgian authorities categorised the region as a green zone last week. The latest update means that all of Bulgaria is now on the orange zones list, which carries the quarantine and PCR test recommendation.
As of August 1, everyone travelling to Belgium, irrespective of the zone category and the mode of transport, must complete the Public Health Passenger Locator Form no later than 48 hours before arrival.
More information is available at https://travel.info-coronavirus.be.
(Photo of the Trevi Fountain in Rome: publicdomainpictures. net)
For the rest of The Sofia Globe’s continuing coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria, please click here.
Please support independent journalism by clicking on the orange button below. For as little as three euro a month or the equivalent in other currencies, you can support The Sofia Globe via patreon.com and get access to exclusive subscriber-only content:
