Editor's note: Norway's rules on which countries and regions qualify for quarantine, and what quarantine requires, are subject to change. Check with Norwegian national authorities prior to travel.

An update to Norway’s Covid-19 travel recommendations means that Norway now requires travellers from Cyprus, Latvia and Liechtenstein to quarantine for 10 days on arrival.

The three holdout countries now join every other non-Nordic country within the EU, Schengen zones and UK on Norway’s ‘red’ quarantine list.

Within the Nordics, all arrivals from Denmark and Iceland are also encompassed by quarantine requirements. Just one of Sweden’s 21 regions, Kalmar, remains exempt.

In Finland, travellers arriving from five regions must quarantine. The five regions are Etelä-Savo, Central Finland, Helsinki and Uusimaa, North Karelia and Vaasa.

The new quarantine requirements come into effect on Saturday October 10th.

Norway lifted travel restrictions with most EEA and Schengen area countries on July 15th, but rising infections in Europe have resulted in a gradual re-tightening of guidelines and rules.

The Norwegian Institute for Public Health (NIPH) regularly updates its list of EEA and Schengen area countries which meet and do not meet the country's criteria for safe travel, and advises the foreign ministry to make its travel recommendations on this basis.

Once a country is ‘red', the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against travel that is not strictly necessary to that country, and a 10-day quarantine period is required for travellers returning or arriving from it. 

No countries are classed as 'green' or ‘yellow’ at the current time, but the difference is that Norway advises against non-essential travel to 'yellow' countries, while no such warning exists for 'green' countries. However, 'yellow' countries, unlike 'red', countries do not have quarantine requirements for arrivals in Norway.

Norway applies its quarantine requirement if the rate of new coronavirus infections is over 20 cases per 100,000 people for the last two weeks based on figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the EU agency monitoring the data. For fellow Nordic countries, Norway's health authorities judge on a regional basis.

Quarantine in Norway

READ ALSO: What are Norway’s strict quarantine rules for travellers and what happens if you break them?

In Norway, 'home quarantine' including for people arriving from 'red' countries means that person is asked to stay home from school or work, not have visitors, not use public transport and only visit shops or pharmacies if strictly necessary or not at all if it is not possible to maintain social distance. You may have normal contact with people you live with who are not in quarantine. You are also allowed to go outside for a walk if you maintain a one-metre distance from others at all times.

If you later suspect you have symptoms of coronavirus, you must isolate yourself completely and get tested for the virus. More details can be found on the health authority website.

You can read full detail about the quarantine rules — which can be punishable under the law if broken — in our article.

READ ALSO: What are the latest rules for travel to Norway from outside of Europe?