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The European Commission has proposed a traffic light system of red, yellow and green to streamline EU countries' coronavirus threat level.
It is an attempt to overcome the current confusion existing for travellers seeking to go from one EU country to another and having to work out what restrictions are in place.
Under the proposal, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control would produce a weekly map with every region or country given the colors of a traffic light.
The commission is advising that no restrictions be set for travellers from green or orange zones, though visitors from the latter might be recommended to take a COVID-19 test.
Restrictions, whether a quarantine or a test, would be appropriate for those coming from red zones, although the measures should be the same for all red zones, whether inside or outside the country.
Countries would be free to determine what measures to take.
The colour-coding is based on two criteria – no restrictions for people from areas with 50 or fewer COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people in 14 days, or where the percentage of positive tests is below three percent, unless the number of cases exceeds 150.
Red zones denote regions or countries with more than 150 cases per 100,000 or more than 50 cases if at least three percent of COVID-19 tests are positive.
One EU diplomat told Reuters that some ambassadors, who discussed the issue on Wednesday, pointed out that various EU countries did not have health services or test-and-trace systems equally capable of coping with COVID-19. More vulnerable countries, as a result, might wish to set tighter limits for visitors.
EU countries, most of which closed their national borders when the coronavirus pandemic struck, began easing restrictions in June. But the coordinated opening swiftly unravelled.
Hungary locked its borders while exempting visitors from three neighboring states, a move branded by the Commission as discriminatory and illegal.
On Friday, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said some countries want to shorten the 14-day quarantine period from risky regions to 10 days.
"We want to prevent a situation where travel rules in Europe and to Europe are starkly different. This leads to uncertainty and creates problems at borders," said Spahn.
"We agreed that when travelling from a risky region, a general quarantine of at least 10 days is advisable. Some member states want to keep the possibility to go beyond 10 days."
Many EU countries are facing rising numbers of infections and have widely varying quarantine rules for travellers from different regions with high case rates.
(REUTERS)
