NEWS: Lots more countries easing travel restrictions – Canada, Vietnam and more plus Malaysia back tracks

Lots more countries easing travel restrictions

The good news continues with several more countries announcing a relaxation of their entry rules:

• Canada – On-arrival testing for fully vaccinated travellers will be eased from 28 February but with random testing still possible. YOu will also now have the option of using a rapid antigen test result taken the day prior to the flight or a PCR taken no more than 72 hours before the flight to meet pre-entry requirements. LIke the US antigen test must be supervised by video or in person. 
• Finland – Finland no longer requires fully vaccinated travellers from the UK to provide a negative COVID test. If your final vaccine was more than nine months ago you must also have received a booster. With proof  you have recovered from COVID and have received at least one dose of a two-dose vaccine, you are also considered fully vaccinated by the Finnish. Unvaccinated holidaymakers from the UK are still banned, until 13 March, unless they have a certificate to prove they’ve recently recovered.
• Lithuania – Unvaccinated visitors from the UK no longer need to self-isolate when arriving in Lithuania with a negative PCR test within 72 hours before arrival. Those with proof of recent recovery from COVID will also be exempt from quarantine. If you’re fully vaccinated, you don’t need to take a test.
• Vietnam – The government appears to be supporting the call from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s proposal to fully reopen international tourism and lift all travel restrictions from 15 March 22. Travellers aged from 12 and above would be required to be fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid and show a negative rapid antigen test result obtained within 24 hours at their accommodation after arrival. You would continue monitoring their health for 14 days as per health ministry protocol. This was announced by the Vietnamese state news agency. 
• Singapore – Singapore is making a number of changes to its VTL program which the UK is part of. From 22 February the travel history applies to only the last 7 days. So you only need to be within a VTL country from 7 days from date of arrival. They have also changed the PCR test on arrival to a supervised antigen test. The tests on days 2-7 will also not be required. Several other countries will be added to the VTL in the next few weeks including the UAE. 
• Netherlands – Currently travellers coming from “very-high risk” countries such as the U.K. must present a vaccine certificate, a negative COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours of arrival, and self-isolate for 10 days unless they receive a negative result on day 5 of their stay. Now the government has announced that travellers with a booster shot will not be required quarantine if they received the booster shot at least seven days before the trip to the Netherlands. This change will come into effect from 25 February 2022. 

You can check all the latest entry requirements for countries via the FCDO page here. 

Malaysia backtracks on March opening

I previously wrote that Malaysia was considering reopening in March. Currently, it has a limited and rather complex Langkawi scheme for visitors but this has not been very successful in terms of the number of visitors.

The government has now confirmed that they will not reopen on 1 March as further studies are needed to allow the country to open without the use of travel bubbles.