8 November 28, 2021The Sunday Times
Travel Advice
Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where bars are closing at 8pm
WHAT ARE THE LATEST
LOCKDOWN RULES IN
EUROPE?
After Austria’s new lockdown
made the headlines, Slovakia
followed suit on Thursday.
So far these are the only two
European countries in full
lockdowns, which are likely
to last until mid-December.
Based on measured cases,
Slovakia and Austria are
experiencing the world’s
biggest and second-biggest
Covid outbreaks relative to
population — with 1,800 and
1,500 cases per million people
respectively. In both countries
it’s back to closures of bars,
restaurants and non-essential
shops — and Austria is gearing
up to bring in a compulsory
vaccination requirement for
the general population from
February 1, the first EU
country to take this step.
While no other European
country has yet brought in a
lockdown, there have been
daily announcements about
stricter mask measures and
health-pass requirements in
places such as France, Italy,
Belgium and Greece. And
some regions have gone
further than their national
governments: in Germany the
states of Bavaria and Saxony
will be missing out on their
famous Christmas markets in
cities including Nuremberg,
Munich, Dresden and Leipzig.ARE OTHER COUNTRIES
LIKELY TO FOLLOW SUIT AND
INTRODUCE RESTRICTIONS?
Most European countries will
feel the need now to tighten
restrictions if they haven’t
already, but it’s not a certaintythat there will be general
lockdowns. Governments are
under pressure from spiking
Covid case rates in many
places, but also facing some
violent protests against stricter
control measures. The
European countries
experiencing the biggest
outbreaks in the last week of
November, after Slovakia and
Austria, are the Czech
Republic, Belgium, Slovenia,
Liechtenstein, Croatia, the
Netherlands and Hungary —
the pandemic now has a focus
in central Europe and the Low
Countries. Elsewhere rates
have fallen from recent highs
in places including Romania
and the Baltic states, and cases
have stayed fairly low in Spain,
Sweden, Italy and Finland.WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR
TRAVELLERS?
For a start, travel will be even
more restricted for anyone still
unvaccinated. In Italy, for
example, a green pass to allow
access to many spaces,
including long-distance public
transport, was previously
available to people with recent
negative test results, but will
now only be valid with proof of
vaccination or recovery. Even
if across-the-board closures
don’t happen, there might still
be restricted opening hours,
such as the 8pm closure for
bars and restaurants that the
Netherlands brought in earlier
this month. In the best case
you should be prepared to
show vaccination passes
multiple times a day, even in
some outside settings such as
Christmas markets, and to
wear a facemask moreWhat do the new rules mean for travellers?
Rory Goulding has the latest on lockdowns and winter holidays
EUROPE’S
FOURTH
Q&AWAVE