Czech Republic drops all Covid travel restrictions

Of the four nations in the Visegrád Group, only Slovakia has restrictions in place

(Mick O’Hare)

The Czech Republic has dropped all Covid-19 measures for international arrivals.

Travellers to Prague and the rest of the nation no longer need to produce proof of vaccination or pre-departure testing, nor fill in arrival forms. The post-arrival test for unvaccinated visitors has also been annulled.

At the weekend, the Czech Ministry of the Interior announced: “As of 9 April 2022, the protective measures regarding the conditions of entry into the Czech Republic in relation to the epidemic of Covid-19 have been suspended.

“Entry into the Czech Republic is no longer subject to any special epidemiological conditions to prevent the spread of the disease.

“The entry ban for foreigners from third countries and the obligation to prove infection-free status have been lifted.”

Museums and galleries are back to 100 per cent capacity.

FFP2 facemarks are still mandatory on public transport, as well as in hospitals and pharmacies.

The Czech Republic is the third member of the Visegrád Group of eastern European nations to remove its Covid arrival rules. Hungary and Poland did so last month.

Slovakia still has restrictions on unvaccinated travellers and requires a passenger locator form from all arrivals.

It follows Spain’s dramatic U-turn on entry rules regarding unvaccinated British arrivals.

Last Wednesday the tourist board said Spain had opened up to all UK travellers with immediate effect, saying unjabbed visitors would be able to enter with a negative pre-departure test.

But eight hours later travellers were told this was incorrect, and that the announcement resulted from an error of interpretation of the official state bulletin.

UK travellers aged 12 and above are still required to show proof of being fully vaccinated or a certificate of recovery (dated no more than 180 days previously).

Pedro Medina, deputy director of the Spanish tourist office in the UK said: “We apologise unreservedly for the miscommunication earlier today which was due to a misunderstanding of the new entry requirements.”