Complete freedom of travel to neighboring countries as in pre-Corona times will be restored as of tomorrow, Thursday. Only in Italy are the infection numbers still too high.
After around three months of corona restrictions, Austria is once again completely free of travel to its neighboring countries with the exception of Italy. As of Thursday, border and health controls against Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary will cease, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said on Wednesday.
The pre-corona situation applies to these countries – there are no quarantine or test requirements when entering Austria. The restrictions on Italy remain, and the next evaluation is scheduled for next week. You can see that the situation has also improved significantly in Italy and that individual regions – such as South Tyrol – could already have good Covid 19 figures, said Schallenberg. The proposal from Bolzano, according to which it could be opened to Italian regions, was therefore “to be taken very seriously”. The goal is an “opening to Italy as soon as the numbers allow it”.
Travel within Italy is allowed again
In Italy itself, after around three months with strict corona restrictions, the Italians themselves can again travel freely between the 20 regions of the country. On Wednesday there was a strong increase in traffic on the motorways. Traffic jams have been reported not far from Milan and Liguria, media reports.
Railway stations and airports reported strong passenger growth. The temperature was measured in the Termini train station in Rome. The railways greatly increased the range of trains on the high-speed axis between Turin and Naples. Traffic jams also occurred in the Sicilian port of Messina when accessing the ferries that take passengers to the mainland in Calabria.
Leaving one’s own region in Italy had been restricted since the beginning of March. So far, Italians have only been allowed to leave their home region exceptionally. They then had to have a written self-declaration ready for their important reasons. Foreigners were also only allowed to enter the country during the Corona barriers, for example because of work.
Italy hopes to restart tourism
And even if Austria is still hesitant to make travel to its southern neighbor possible, Italy has in principle reopened its borders for holidaymakers. Since Wednesday, people from EU countries as well as Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland have again been granted freedom of travel. A two-week quarantine for foreigners entering Italy has been abolished.
Italy now hopes to restart tourism. “Italy is ready to receive foreign holidaymakers safely. Taking in tourists means getting our economy going again,” said Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who meets his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Rome on Wednesday afternoon to discuss, among other things to speak the border opening.
Friuli Venezia Giulia is one of the regions that expect a lot from the opening of the border. The region is safe for vacationers. The infection rate is as low as in the German federal states with the lowest Covid 19 cases, Friulian President Massimiliano Fedriga reported on Wednesday. The meager balance of Pentecost vacationers in Lignano, for example, showed that visitors from Austria are an important factor.
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