Portugal eases COVID-19 travel curbs for jabbed EU arrivals

LISBON, Portugal — Portugal on Sunday announced an easing of its travel restrictions for holders of European COVID-19 certificates by scrapping a requirement to test negative before entering the country.

Travelers with an EU digital health pass or other recognized vaccine passes will be exempt from having to prove a recent negative test result from Monday.

The EU COVID-19 certificate proves a traveler is fully vaccinated, has recently tested negative or has recovered from a COVID-19 infection within the past six months.

The move comes after the European Council recommended harmonizing the bloc's travel rules to avoid placing restrictions on fully vaccinated travelers from neighboring EU states with higher infection rates.

Like other EU member states, Portugal has since early December required passengers aged 12 and above to test negative before entering the country regardless of their vaccination status.

On Thursday, the government reduced the validity of lateral flow test results from 48 to 24 hours.

Portugal has entered a steep wave of coronavirus cases driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, recording more than 41,000 new infections and 44 deaths on Saturday. — Agence France-Presse