Austria requires PCR testing for those traveling from Spain, the Netherlands and Cyprus

By Cristina Last updated July 28 2021

Travelers returning from Spain, the Netherlands and Cyprus will need to be tested in order to enter Austria, announced the Austrian Minister of Health, Wolfgang Mückstein. Currently, fully vaccinated people and those who have recovered from the virus are allowed to enter the country without restrictions, but the government is concerned about the country's growing infection rates due to travel.

Those arriving from Spain, the Netherlands and Cyprus, whether or not they are Austrian citizens, must take a negative PCR test when entering the country. If passengers cannot provide such proof, they may be tested free of charge at the airport. In the meantime, no quarantine period is required, unless the test performed at the airport is positive. But anyone who refuses to be tested will risk a fine of up to € 1.450.

Austria requires PCR testing for those traveling from Spain, the Netherlands and Cyprus. The decision does not yet have a date of entry into force.

The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) recently revealed that this 31.1% increase in COVID-19 cases detected between July 5-11 is related to travel activities. On the other hand, figures from 28 June to 4 July indicate that the number of travel cases accounted for 25.3% of the total number in that week.

The agency also revealed that lower rates of household infections accounted for 66.4% of positive cases at the end of May, while in the last week, 33.4% of newly reported cases were related to household infections.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that 24 positive cases have been reported in Austria in the last 323 hours, but no coronavirus-related deaths have been reported. As of January 2020, the country had 10.524 deaths caused by COVID-19 and 651.873 people tested positive. It was also reported that 3 million Austrian citizens were fully vaccinated against COVID-72, representing 19% of the population, and approximately 42.1% of the population received a dose of vaccine.