Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic update

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues to evolve, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises British nationals against all but essential travel, exempting some countries that no longer pose an unacceptably high risk for British travellers. This advice is being kept under constant review and may change at short notice.

The fitfortravel (for the general public) and TRAVAX (for health professionals) country pages have been updated to include a COVID-19 country specific risk-rating, with every country being identified as high, moderate or low risk and each rating accompanied by appropriate travel advice. This information will be listed in the ‘Alerts’ section on each country page of fitfortravel and the 'Emerging Health Risks' section of every TRAVAX country page.

This risk-rating is based on a robust public health assessment of the COVID-19 risks for travellers to each country and is regularly reviewed. So far, in September 2020, the risk rating has been increased in 22 countries, which are detailed on the individual country outbreak alerts on the TRAVAX and fitfortravel websites. In the past three months, the COVID-19 risk to UK travellers has been decreased in the following countries:

• Malaysia 
• St Vincent and the Grenadines 
• East Timor (Timor Leste) 
• Lao PDR 
• Brunei 
• Latvia 
• Cuba 
• Sweden

In the last week, the rating for the following countries has been raised to high risk: 

• Turkey 
• Poland 
• Saba 
• Bonaire 
• Sint Eustatius

The COVID-19 risk rating and travel advice from the FCDO is being kept under constant review and may change at short notice. All travellers are advised to continue following sensible precautions and consider the following sources of information below.

Advice for travellers

Before planning or booking international travel, please check: 

• the UK Border Control website, in order to check current rules regarding self-isolation (quarantine) before your planned return to the UK 
• the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) website, for country specific Travel Advisory Notices regarding travel and entry restrictions, and review the local medical care available at your destination 
• the COVID-19 risk-rating at your destination, which will be listed in the ‘Alerts’ section of all fitfortravel country pages and the ‘Emerging Health Risks’ section of all TRAVAX country pages 
• the TRAVAX travel insurance page, as such insurance should be considered essential 
• the fitfortravel COVID-19 health considerations for travel page 
• physical distancing and hygiene measures in the country you are visiting

Information relating to travel and COVID-19 is available on the TRAVAX (for healthcare practitioners) and fitfortravel (for the general public) websites.

Information on COVID-19 for the general public is available on the NHS Inform (Scotland) and the NHS.UK (rest of the UK) websites.

Information and resources on COVID-19 for health professionals is available on the Health Protection Scotland (HPS) (Scotland) and Public Health England (PHE) (rest of the UK) websites.

Source: TRAVAX, 25 September 2020