Covid restrictions abroad: updates & observations

[Cdd89]

Why is public transport always signalled out?

It’s so weird, isn’t it. Better ventilated and no vocalisation mean it is lower risk than other contexts; yet that’s where masks are focussed.

 

[Mag_seven]

but

https://www.thelocal.es/20220406/br...ing-mandatory-indoors-in-spain-on-april-19th/

Regional governments could possibly impose a mask mandate in their region, but most seem to on board with the after Easter date.


The announcement earlier today that unvaccinated British could enter Spain for tourism (with a -ve test) was an error.

https://www.independent.co.uk/trave...cinated-british-travel-tourists-b2052032.html

Its clear that some countries are still terrified of this virus despite vaccines, treatments and a less severe variant. When those that are in charge are still scared, the rest of us have to continue to suffer.

 

[nw1]

Its clear that some countries are still terrified of this virus despite vaccines, treatments and a less severe variant. When those that are in charge are still scared, the rest of us have to continue to suffer.

Why are they scared though, given Covid is indeed less severe?

I can only assume the reason is intense guilt. I don't believe that any Western leaders actually believe large numbers of people will die now, but they might have such a feeling of guilt that they consider unrestricted tourism too much of a risk - even though in actuality it will have little or no effect on the number of Covid deaths.

However I do believe it will end for the summer as many countries will not want a third consecutive bad tourist season, and restrictions continuing into the summer will, I suspect, mean lost votes for the governing parties.

 

[P Binnersley]

The Spanish Health form has been abolished for vaccinated travellers with digital vaccination certificates (with QR code).

All passengers arriving in Spain by air (except children under 12 years of age and those in international transit), regardless of the country of origin, including Spaniards returning to their home, must have one of these documents:

• DIGITAL COVID CERTIFICATE OR EU EQUIVALENT vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative certificate of an active infection diagnostic test or a certificate of recovery after passing the disease. You can check if your certificate is valid on the website https://spth.gob.es or in the Spain Travel Health app -SpTH- (Android, iOS, Huawei).
  Upon arrival at the airport follow the signals indicating the ORANGE WAY .
• QR SPTH . If you do not have the EU Digital COVID Certificate or EU equivalent, you must fill in the SPTH Health Control Form manually entering the data of your vaccination, recovery or diagnostic test certificate through the website https://spth.gob.es or the Spain Travel Health application -SpTH- (Android, iOS, Huawei). The system will send you a QR code that you will have to present both prior boarding, and upon your arrival in Spain. In the health control, you may be required to present this document certifying vaccination, diagnostic test or recovery.
  Upon arrival at the airport follow the signals indicating the BLUE WAY .

https://www.sanidad.gob.es/en/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov/spth.htm

 

[El Blanco]

Had a trip to Paris last week. Nearly got caught out at Glasgow Airport. The rules - not sure if they were EasyJet’s, the Scottish Government’s or French Government’s - were that cloth masks were not allowed on the flight and they had to be of the surgical type. An announcement was made whilst we were lining up at the gate that boarding would be denied if one was wearing a cloth mask. Few of us had to run to Boots at the other side of the terminal to get the correct masks.

On reflection, it did say that only surgical masks were allowed however this was after clicking on three separate links on the website from the page where it stated masks were required.

 

[alex397]

Deleted .

 

[1D54]

Visited Berlin a couple of weeks ago and there will be no check at BER on vaccination status so i doubt very much if BA will bother either prior to boarding.

FFP2 on public transport is the order of the day but many people just wear the usual blue disposable masks or any other sort of face covering.

 

[Huntergreed]

I’m in Budapest right now, having travelled here via Vienna and Bratislava.

No mask mandate here at all and usage is well below even 5% - unlike in the UK there’s been no attempts to encourage voluntary compliance out of “courtesy” or “respect”.

In Austria, there is an FFP2 mandate in all indoor spaces, and compliance is very high (some are just wearing surgical or cloth masks though)

In Slovakia, there is also an indoor FFP2 mandate, although compliance is notably lower, with more cloth masks and quite a few maskless (who I have not seen challenged).

I’ll be travelling back via Vienna on Monday. I will be back visiting Slovakia and the Czech Republic later this month, and I sincerely hope both countries have no mask requirements by that point.

 

[ABB125]

compliance is very high

It certainly is! Over the last two days in Vienna (plus some time on Austrian trains prior to this), I honestly can't remember seeing anyone not wearing a mask (except for below).

who I have not seen challenged

Earlier today at Vienna Hbf, someone wasn't wearing a mask. A member of staff who happened to be walking by (not sure what their job was) challenged the maskless individual, and they pulled one out of their pocket.

I'm writing this from a NightJet couchette, where I believe you're meant to wear a mask if you're sharing with people outside your group (though correct me if I'm wrong; it's definitely the case in the seated coaches). None of the 4 of us are wearing masks (including the two other passengers). There were announcements in both German and English upon departure from Vienna reminding passengers of the legal requirement to wear an FFP2 mask on the train and at stations.

 

[yorkie]

I am in Hungary now and I'd say at least 95% of people are unmasked; it is great to be here.

Why is public transport always signalled out?

The sort of people who demand or implement restrictions don't tend to use public transport.

 

[Butts]

Visited Berlin a couple of weeks ago and there will be no check at BER on vaccination status so i doubt very much if BA will bother either prior to boarding.

FFP2 on public transport is the order of the day but many people just wear the usual blue disposable masks or any other sort of face covering.

I was in Munich a couple of weeks ago and my vaccination status (certificate) was inspected on checking in at Edinburgh on the way out and at Munich on the way back.

This was on BA even though I had already uploaded it on request prior to departure.

It was also checked at my Hotel.

"All White" in Munich just about everyone had an FFP2 on very few blue in sight.

 

[superalbs]

I’m in Budapest right now, having travelled here via Vienna and Bratislava.

No mask mandate here at all and usage is well below even 5% - unlike in the UK there’s been no attempts to encourage voluntary compliance out of “courtesy” or “respect”.

In Austria, there is an FFP2 mandate in all indoor spaces, and compliance is very high (some are just wearing surgical or cloth masks though)

In Slovakia, there is also an indoor FFP2 mandate, although compliance is notably lower, with more cloth masks and quite a few maskless (who I have not seen challenged).

I’ll be travelling back via Vienna on Monday. I will be back visiting Slovakia and the Czech Republic later this month, and I sincerely hope both countries have no mask requirements by that point.

In Slovakia today, will be trying a maskless approach.

When do you arrive to Vienna tomorrow?

 

[Bikeman78]

It certainly is! Over the last two days in Vienna (plus some time on Austrian trains prior to this), I honestly can't remember seeing anyone not wearing a mask (except for below).

Earlier today at Vienna Hbf, someone wasn't wearing a mask. A member of staff who happened to be walking by (not sure what their job was) challenged the maskless individual, and they pulled one out of their pocket.

I'm writing this from a NightJet couchette, where I believe you're meant to wear a mask if you're sharing with people outside your group (though correct me if I'm wrong; it's definitely the case in the seated coaches). None of the 4 of us are wearing masks (including the two other passengers). There were announcements in both German and English upon departure from Vienna reminding passengers of the legal requirement to wear an FFP2 mask on the train and at stations.

When are these countries planning to drop this? Surely now is as good as it gets? Masks have not been required in England for most of the past nine months and the world has not ended.

 

[Mag_seven]

When are these countries planning to drop this? Surely now is as good as it gets? Masks have not been required in England for most of the past nine months and the world has not ended.

A lot of countries are dropping mask requirements except on public transport and in health settings.

 

[Cdd89]

As of 1st April 2002, you no longer need to quarantine on entry to Singapore

Entry requirements - Singapore travel advice

FCDO travel advice for Singapore. Includes safety and security, insurance, entry requirements and legal differences.

www.gov.uk

From 1 April 2002 if you’re fully vaccinated, you can enter Singapore without needing to quarantine. You must:

• be fully vaccinated and have digital or physical copies of your vaccination status
• take the required COVID-19 tests within two days before departure and be able to show the result in the required format. Pre-departure tests are required for those entering Singapore by air or sea, but not for those entering by land from Malaysia (foreign vehicles entering Singapore from Malaysia must pre-register here

On a serious note, this looks like a great destination for hassle free travel with no post-arrival testing.
It sounds like the experience in Singapore itself might be a bit less than ideal, but I'm desperate enough to visit Asia that at this point I don't particularly care.

 

[Bikeman78]

A lot of countries are dropping mask requirements except on public transport and in health settings.

So what needs to happen for masks not to be required on public transport? It's a farce on planes anyway. My mate recently flew to Dubai. He reckons most people had their masks off 50% of the time because they were eating or drinking. Surely no one believes that this nonsense makes any difference any more?

 

[D6130]

According to "The Local - Italy", the on-line English language ex-pat news magazine, Italy is planning to relax most Covid restrictions from 30th April, but it hasn't yet been decided whether to discontinue the mandatory wearing of FFFP-2/3 masks on public transport.

 

[kristiang85]

So what needs to happen for masks not to be required on public transport? It's a farce on planes anyway. My mate recently flew to Dubai. He reckons most people had their masks off 50% of the time because they were eating or drinking. Surely no one believes that this nonsense makes any difference any more?

Currently airlines make a lot of money from me as I keep ordering drinks to keep the mask off. Maybe they know this and that's why they keep it...

 

[Mainline421]

According to "The Local - Italy", the on-line English language ex-pat news magazine, Italy is planning to relax most Covid restrictions from 30th April, but it hasn't yet been decided whether to discontinue the mandatory wearing of FFFP-2/3 masks on public transport.

Which article is this from? My understanding is that Italy have already announced plans to scrap masks (including on transport) from 1 May and this appears to be confirmed by The Local thankfully.

 

[D6130]

Which article is this from? My understanding is that Italy have already announced plans to scrap masks (including on transport) from 1 May and this appears to be confirmed by The Local thankfully.

Unfortunately I can't do a link, but I believe it was from last week's (or possibly the week before's) subscriber e-mail alert. The above is very good news, as we are going on 9th May for about seven weeks.

 

[ABB125]

Interestingly, at Munich Hbf this evening, a rather large number of what I assume are German army cadets have passed through. Why, I have no idea. Anyway, a significant minority were wearing flimsy masks, rather than FFP2 as required. I'd have thought that the people in charge of whatever event was going on would want to ensure that everyone was doing things "properly", given this is (I think) the army! Especially as they were all in branded* camouflage uniform.

Perhaps this is a sign of the attitude among Germans to masks? Though I didn't see anyone without a mask.

*By which I mean a small German flag on each shoulder

 

[Yew]

*By which I mean a small German flag on each shoulder

I'd never use the world branded to mean that, but you are technically correct

 

[johncrossley]

Interestingly, at Munich Hbf this evening, a rather large number of what I assume are German army cadets have passed through. Why, I have no idea.

You often see people in army uniforms on Sunday afternoons/evenings on German rail stations.

 

[SurreyCommuter]

I'm keeping my eye on this thread as I've got a family wedding in Sicily at the end of August and so am hoping that all mask related restrictions will have gone by then. Plus at that time of year I've been told it gets pretty hot there which I think would make most normal people even less keen to wear something like that.

 

[kristiang85]

I'm keeping my eye on this thread as I've got a family wedding in Sicily at the end of August and so am hoping that all mask related restrictions will have gone by then. Plus at that time of year I've been told it gets pretty hot there which I think would make most normal people even less keen to wear something like that.

I was in Sicily a few Augusts ago - indeed, I remember a couple of days hitting around 38c, and there's no way I'd want to wear a mask in that!

 

[nw1]

I was in Sicily a few Augusts ago - indeed, I remember a couple of days hitting around 38c, and there's no way I'd want to wear a mask in that!

On balance, I would guess that the health dangers from wearing masks in 35C+ heat would exceed the health dangers of not wearing them!

 

[kristiang85]

Ugh I just got this email from one of my hotels in Portugal. Are they increasing restrictions again, or is this old text that's not been updated?

Due to the return to the "State of Calamity" in Portugal, we kindly ask all guests to comply with the following measure (under penalty of denying the stay with us) upon check-in:
Presentation of the EU COVID Digital Certificate in the form of a vaccine certificate or proof of a negative test (nucleic acid amplification test -TAAN- or rapid antigen test -TRAg), performed within 72 or 48 hours prior to check-in.
This obligation applies to all hotels and local accommodation in Portugal. It's not our extravagance.

 

[Watershed]

Ugh I just got this email from one of my hotels in Portugal. Are they increasing restrictions again, or is this old text that's not been updated?

That's out of date - Covid passports are now only required for entering medical facilities and care homes, and for entry to the country.

 

[P Binnersley]

Ugh I just got this email from one of my hotels in Portugal. Are they increasing restrictions again, or is this old text that's not been updated?

I got a similar message from a hotel in the Canary islands. The local requirement had been "suspended" months ago. Not asked for anything beyond ID at check-in.

 

[ABB125]

I've been in Sweden and Denmark today, neither of which mandate the use of masks (anywhere, I think, but certainly not on public transport). I don't think I've seen anyone wearing a mask. Things seem to be back to "normal" here.