The Netherlands has issued negative travel advice for the whole of Belgium, France, Poland and the United Kingdom, because more and more residents of those countries test positive for the corona virus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports Tuesday.
The Netherlands has issued a negative travel advice for all of Belgium, France, Poland and the United Kingdom, because more and more residents of those countries test positive for the corona virus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports Tuesday.
Dutch people who still travel to Belgium are strongly advised to go into home quarantine for ten days upon their return. For the time being it is recommended to make only necessary trips to Belgium.
At the end of September, the ministry already announced the orange color code for Belgium. Before that, that advice only applied to the Belgian cities of Brussels and Antwerp.
Entry restrictions already applied for Dutch people traveling to Belgium. The Belgian government has designated all Dutch provinces with the exception of Zeeland as red areas.
France saw the number of positive tests increase rapidly
France has been stacking day record on day record in recent weeks. The country has already tightened up the measures several times and has designated six areas, including Paris, as ‘red zone’. The highest alert phase applies in those regions, according to the French government.
As a result, regional authorities can take measures that can restrict the freedom of movement of the Dutch. This is usually an important indicator for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to fine-tune travel advice.
France reported more than eighteen thousand positive tests in 24 hours in the past week. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, more than 20,000 positive tests were recorded in one day.
The United Kingdom takes into account regional lockdowns
The United Kingdom reported about 15,000 positive tests every day in the past week. This is considerably more compared to the beginning of October and mid-September, when less than ten thousand people tested positive each day.
The British government therefore introduced three risk levels this week: medium, high and very high. According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, most of the country was still below the mildest risk level.
In regions with a higher risk level, regional governments can declare lockdowns. These can be accompanied by the closure of bars, pubs, casinos and gyms, for example. According to Johnson, a first heavy lockdown could be announced in the city of Liverpool.
