The Dutch government has announced that the country will no longer apply COVID-19 restrictions for incoming travellers.
Through an official statement, the government of the Netherlands has disclosed that starting from March 23, European Union/Schengen Area travellers will no longer be required to present one of the certificates that is part of the Digital COVID Pass – a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate – upon entry.
Moreover, the same has noted that the entry rules will also be dropped for non-EU travellers, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
“For people travelling to the Netherlands from within the EU/Schengen, the obligation to have a test, recovery or vaccination certificate will expire from March 23. There are also no entry measures for EU citizens who travel to the Netherlands from countries outside the EU/Schengen,” the statement of the Dutch government reads.
This means that everyone will soon be able to enter the Netherlands without having to meet entry rules. Nonetheless, the authorities are still to come out with additional information by the beginning of the next week.
Apart from abolishing the entry rules, the Dutch Minister of Health Ernst Kuipers has announced that the Netherlands will also drop its remaining domestic COVID-19 restrictions on March 23.
The Minister said that the requirement to wear a face mask when accessing public transport would be dropped. In addition, the same noted that the 1G rule would also be abolished, meaning that as soon as the new rules start being effective, no one will no longer be required to undergo testing before attending different public places and events.
“From Wednesday, March 23, 2022, the public can also enter these locations without Testing for Access. There are then no more locations where the corona admission ticket is valid,” the authorities said.
The government explained that the decision to remove the remaining COVID-19 measures had been taken after evaluating the current situation and concluding that the virus no longer causes serious health implications.
However, even though the remaining measures will be dropped, the authorities have recommended that everyone washes hands regularly, stays at home if experiencing any symptoms and receive a booster shot.
The data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the Netherlands has reported 442,546 new infection cases in the last seven days. During the same period, the country has also registered 104 deaths.
As for the vaccination, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reveals that 82.7 of the entire adult population in the Netherlands has completed primary vaccination, and another 64.0 per cent have received an additional vaccine dose.