Dutch issue tighter travel warning for Belgium, Liechtenstein

The Netherlands issued Code Orange travel alerts for Belgium and Liechtenstein on Monday, with immediate effect. Travelers entering the Netherlands from Liechtenstein will not have to self-isolate on arrival, and only those arriving from Antwerp, the Brussels metropolitan area, and the province of Liège in Belgium will have to quarantine for ten days.

The Dutch government advised people against any unnecessary trips to the two European countries because of their restrictions on travelers entering from the Netherlands. Belgium requires anyone who has been to Noord-Holland, Utrecht or Zuid-Holland to quarantine for 14 days with family or friends, or in a hotel, if they will stay in Belgium for longer than 48 hours.

”Quarantine may be interrupted for the necessary purpose of the trip (for example, a business meeting or funeral),” the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Belgium also requires anyone who has been in either of the three provinces to get tested for a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection in Belgium, after designating the provinces as places one should only visit if extremely urgent.

“Travelers from other provinces in the Netherlands are advised to go into self-quarantine for 14 days or for the duration of their stay and to have themselves tested there,” the Dutch government said. The advice is not a mandatory requirement.

Liechtenstein now requires all passengers from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, to enter a ten-day quarantine. For that reason alone, the Netherlands sharpened its advice regarding the nation.