Global Travel Restrictions and Reopening Dates

The Canada-U.S. land border is closed to non-essential travel until June 21st and this is expected to be extended this week until the end of July. However there are no restrictions for air travel, Canadians can enter the US by air into all 50 states. There are no isolation restrictions in any state except Hawaii who requires a 14 day isolation period. Watch for an update this week regarding the land border closure.

Mexico is slowly reopening state by state and welcoming visitors once again. Quintana Roo, the popular tourism state home to Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, and Tulum has reopened this week. Los Cabos is scheduled to open by July. The land border between the U.S. and Mexico is currently closed to “nonessential” travel until at least June 21st.

There remains no outright ban on foreign arrivals, but all international arrivals into the UK, including returning British residents, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days, regardless of symptoms. Individuals quarantining will be permitted to shop for food essentials and medicines but only if it is not possible to rely on others, and will be able to take public transport to their designated accommodation. Travelers will submit the address that they will be staying at on arrival at UK airports and ports. Police will then be given powers to spot-check homes and issue £1,000 fines for anyone not observing the rules.

Italy became the first European country to fully open its international borders on Wednesday June 3rd, dropping the 14-day quarantine requirement for visitors. International flights resumed in three major cities including Milan, Rome, and Naples. All museums, including Rome’s Vatican Museums, have been slowly reopening throughout May with strict social-distancing rules. Bars and restaurants opened on May 18th with a reduced numbers of diners. St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican reopened on May 18th after being closed for over two months, the Leaning Tower of Pisa has also reopened, while the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is scheduled to return to railways on July 8th.

Restrictions on travel are being lifted in France on June 15th for those arriving from most European countries. While travelers from the European area will no longer require an international travel certificate to enter, and most won’t be asked to self-quarantine, those coming from the UK will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days from arrival. France will begin relaxing restrictions on travel from countries outside the EU on July 1st, in accordance with the European Commission’s recommendations.

Germany announced its decision to lift a travel warning for non-essential trips to 21 European countries. The Federal Government decided on June 3, 2020, that the travel warning for the member states of the European Union, for Schengen-associated states and for the United Kingdom should be lifted from June 15th and replaced by individual travel advice. They also decided to keep in place border controls with France, Austria, and Switzerland, and airside borders with Italy and Spain will end on June 15, 2020. Travel outside of the specified countries is not yet permitted. Germany is to wait for the EU to make a decision on this.

A travel ban to Greece of non-EU nationals will remain in effect until June 15 when flights from specific destinations abroad will be allowed while the quarantine obligation for visitors to Greece will be extended to the end of June. All nationalities arriving in Greece from June 1 to midnight June 14 will be obliged to undertake a coronavirus test and stay at a designated hotel. If their test results are negative, they will be obliged to spend 7 days in quarantine; if positive, 14 days quarantine. This also includes Greek citizens arriving from abroad. From June 15 to June 30, only passengers arriving from high-infection countries will be subjected to testing and the above quarantine duration’s.

Spain’s lock down was one of the toughest in Europe, but restrictions are gently being lifted there too. Beaches set to reopen in June while hotels in some parts of the country have already been permitted to resume business. Starting July 1st, Spain will grant EU travelers permission to enter without having to quarantine for two weeks. While there’s been little mention of opening borders to travelers beyond the EU. At present, it’s mandatory for anyone 6 and older to wear face masks while in public, both indoors and outdoors.

Aruba’s government tentatively plans to reopen its borders for inbound travel sometime between June 15 and July 1, 2020. A formal announcement will be announced in the coming weeks, as the government considers additional precautionary measures. The government has not specified if travelers will be subjected to quarantine measures upon arrival or if residents from specific nations will be banned. So far, Aruba has recorded only 101 positive cases of coronavirus and 3 deaths. Although there’s no mention of any Covid-19 testing requirements for arrivals, tourists will be required to undergo temperature checks on arrival.

With just 96 confirmed cases and 11 deaths, the Bahamas has started to reopen businesses with commercial activity resuming most recently on Cat Island, Long Island, Abaco, and Andros as of Monday, May 18. However, non-essential travel is looking at a possible return date of July 1 of this year.

Jamaica is looking at an open date of June 1st, according to the latest bulletin from the Jamaican Tourist Board’s latest bulletin on April 30, which noted Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness had ordered the borders closed until the end of May.

Earlier in May, the government in the Cayman Islands discussed reopening its borders on September 1, but Premier Alden McLaughlin now says that date is unlikely, local news source Cayman Compass reported. So far, the Cayman Islands have recorded 111 coronavirus cases and 1 death.

With borders closed to international tourists since March 23, St. Lucia has recorded only 18 cases of coronavirus and no deaths. Starting on June 4th, the country will begin a phased approach to reopening tourism and will start by welcoming flights into Hewanorra International Airport from the United States only. Those traveling to the country must present “certified proof” of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 48 hours of boarding their flight. Visitors will also be subject to screening and temperature checks by port health authorities and must wear face masks and maintain social distancing during their visit.

Hopefully by June 1st, the US Virgin Islands will start reopening, according to a Monday press conference by Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., who said they are working on a rollout plan with the departments of tourism and health and other groups.

Costa Rica began easing restrictions on May 1st, allowing theaters, cinemas, hair salons, gyms and athletic centers to reopen under reduced hours and strict sanitary guidelines. This move came after the country’s active infections declined for 11 consecutive days. A ban on foreign tourists is currently set to expire on June 15th, but it could be extended as a precaution. Costa Rica also has a strong universal health-care system and authorities have done extensive contact tracing to identify those infected.

Because Panama is a major maritime and air hub, it sits in a vulnerable position for COVID-19 outbreaks. The first case was recorded on March 9 and on March 22 all international and domestic travel was banned and is still prohibited. The government has been applauded for being proactive in testing and its overall transparency. The Panama Ministry of Health has been active in getting information out via social media as well. During a May 6 press briefing, the Ministry of Health announced that it is working with other ministries on plans for a gradual lifting of restrictions.

Early lockdowns have been credited with keeping coronavirus relatively contained in Australia. The country has had fewer than 100 deaths and remains closed to foreign visitors. Foreigners are banned except for a few emergency exemptions that must be cleared in advance and arriving citizens and non-citizens are subject to a 14-day quarantine. Australian leaders have suggested foreign travel for Australians might not even be possible until 2021. In fact, the governments of Australia and New Zealand are discussing a so-called “travel bubble” that may allow tourism only between the two nations (and possibly Fiji), but nothing firm has been decided just yet. Meanwhile, Australian leaders have said October is probably the earliest they would again allow international travel.

The country where the pandemic began in December, briefly reopened its borders to non-citizens before closing them again in late March due to an influx of new cases. Tourists from outside the country are still not welcome and there is no timeline on when that might change.

Japan is under a state of emergency and is stepping up border controls and banning visitors from 70 nations including Canada or anyone who has visited those nations in the past 14 days. Japan had avoided stay-at-home orders and had seemed to avoid an outbreak like those of its Asian neighbors, but that has changed, and it has now had to dramatically expand quarantine efforts.