By Agencies
The government of Hungary said on Sunday it was barring travel from Africa, most of Asia apart from China and Japan, and restricting entry from several European countries after worldwide spikes in coronavirus cases.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban Chief of Staff, Gergely Gulyas said that Hungarian health officials have placed 154 countries into three risk categories based on numbers of coronavirus infections.
Gulyas said the country needs to protect her security so that the virus is not introduced from abroad since the level of active infection cases at home is falling.
He said entry into Hungary would be barred for citizens from countries assessed as red from Tuesday midnight, including all African and Asian countries apart from China and Japan.
European countries in the red zone are Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus, Montenegro, as well as Hungary’s neighbour Ukraine.
Gulyas said Hungarian citizens returning from red countries must pass a virus test and undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Citizens from countries in a yellow category including the US, UK, Norway, Serbia, Russia, China, and Japan will have to enter two weeks quarantine unless they have tested negative for the virus within five days.
Four of Hungary’s fellow EU members Bulgaria, Portugal, Sweden, and neighbouring Romania will also face the same restrictions.
Hungary’s population of almost 10 million has been lightly affected by the pandemic in comparison with other parts of Europe, reporting just over 4,200 coronavirus infections and around 595 deaths so far.
Earlier this month, Orban said Hungary would not follow an EU recommendation to lift coronavirus travel restrictions for more countries outside the bloc, citing a risk to health.