Greece, France and Portugal to ease testing restrictions

The government of Greece has confirmed that it will remove Covid testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers.

The change, which phases out the previous requirement for all air passengers to provide a negative antigen test within 24 hours of entry or a PCR test result 72 hours beforehand, is intended to make international travel to the country easier and ultimately aid the recovery of Greece’s tourism sector following the pandemic.

France has also announced that it will remove testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers.

Under the previous rules, travellers to France, regardless of vaccination status, were required to present proof of a negative Covid test up to 48 hours before arrival. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travellers will still be required to abide by the old rules.

The announcements are the latest of several

Portugal will also relax testing requirements for incoming fully vaccinated travellers from 7 February. Previously, all over-11s were required to present a negative PCR or antigen test on arrival, or proof of recovery.

Like in Greece and France, individuals who do not meet full vaccination requirements will still be required to provide a negative PCR test result 72 hours before travel, or a rapid flow antigen up to 48 hours before arrival.

It follows a wave of changes to border restrictions and travel testing in places as diverse as Scandinavia, Australia and Morocco in recent weeks.