Denmark to further ease travel restrictions

The changes will come into force on May 14th.

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The next phase of the gradual easing of restrictions specific to travel in and out of Denmark begins this Saturday. 

Denmark currently applies a three tiered colour coded system to assess each country’s COVID threat level: red, orange, and yellow. As of Saturday, the coronavirus incidence thresholds determining a country’s risk level will be raised. This will result in a number of countries across the E.U. and Schengen zone being reassessed from medium risk orange to low risk yellow. The changes will be announced by Danish Foreign Affairs on Saturday and exemptions from travel related COVID restrictions for travelers from newly yellow countries will be in force as of 4:00 pm that afternoon. 

Changes as of Saturday:

• The requirement for a recognizable purpose to enter Denmark will be removed for all travelers from E.U. and Schengen countries assessed as orange. Without proof of being fully vaccinated, the mandatory quarantine requirements remain in place upon entry. 

• The requirement for a negative COVID test no more than 48 hours old prior to boarding a flight to Denmark is abolished for travelers from yellow countries within the E.U. and Schengen zone. The mandated test upon arrival in Denmark remains in place. 

• Children under the age of 15, who are already exempt from having to be tested upon arrival, are now also exempt from the requirement to have a negative test to board their flight.

• Exemptions from COVID related travel restrictions for people who have had the coronavirus will only apply from 14 to 180 days after a positive test. It must now be a PCR test, a rapid test is no longer admissible as proof of a previous infection. 

• Though people who have had COVID are treated the same as those who are fully vaccinated, they must still serve a mandatory quarantine if traveling into Denmark from a country deemed red, or high COVID risk. 

New travel rules:

• Pregnant and breastfeeding women traveling with a vaccinated boyfriend/husband/partner are exempt from any quarantine requirement when arriving in Denmark. Their partner must meet the requirements determining someone is fully vaccinated - namely two doses of vaccine approved for use in the E.U. (currently Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or Johnson & Johnson) with a second dose taken no less than two weeks prior to travel. For the Johnson & Johnson vaccine just one dose is required.

• Danish citizens living outside of the European Union or Schengen zone who are fully vaccinated by E.U. standards (see above) are now exempted from testing and isolation requirements when traveling to Denmark. 

New rules for those living in border regions: 

Border regions are defined as the Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, southern Sweden: Blekinge and Skåne counties and western Sweden: Halland and Västra Götaland counties. 

• People living in the border regions can enter Denmark without having to quarantine. 

• Travelers from border regions will still need a negative COVID test no more than 72 hours old to enter. 

Denmark’s Justice Ministry says efforts are still underway to increase testing capacity at the country’s airports in order to handle an expected increase of tourists. It says “the government will present a concrete model for testing at airports as soon as possible.” 

The other fly in the ointment remains the questions around fully vaccinated travelers from outside the European Union and Schengen zone. While Denmark has extended some exemptions for Danish citizens living abroad, it is only the E.U. who has the authority to determine how that will work more broadly for all travelers coming into Europe from outside the bloc. It has tabled a proposal covering those travelers.

You can read about it HERE.

However, Danish authorities are anticipating those rules won’t be officially adopted in the E.U. for at least another few weeks. Once adopted, the rules currently in place governing travel around Europe and among E.U. countries, with some possible tweaks and changes, will be by and large extended to travelers coming from farther abroad. 

You can find the full document with all the changes in Danish HERE.