Self-quarantine upon arrival in the Netherlands

Which travellers should self-quarantine on arrival in the Netherlands?

You should self-quarantine if you're travelling from:

• Andorra
• Aruba
• Belgium: the city of Antwerp and Brussels-Capital Region
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic: Prague
• Denmark: city of Copenhagen and the city of Odense
• France: Paris, the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-et-Marne, Essonne, Val-d’Oise, Yvelines, Sarthe, Rhône, Gironde, Haute-Garonne, Gard, Var, Vaucluse, Hérault, Alpes-Maritimes and Loiret, Côte-d’Or, Seine-Maritime, Nord, Corse-du-Sud, Haute Corse, l'Ain, Ille-et-Vilaine, Isère, Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Pas de Calais, Puy de Dôme, Pyrénées Atlantiques, Pyrénées Orientales and Tarn-et-Garonne.
• Greece: all Greek islands. The Greek peninsula Peloponnesos and the Greek mainland are excluded.   
• Hungary: Budapest
• Malta
• Monaco
• Portugal: Area Metropolitana de Lisboa and Leziria do Tejo
• Romania
• Sint Maarten
• Spain, including the Balearic Islands of Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera and the Canary Islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Graciosa among others.
• Swiss: Canton of Geneve, Freiburg and Vaud

You should also self-quarantine if you're travelling from a country outside the EU, the Schengen area and the United Kingdom, except for: Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and China.

You should always self-quarantine if you're traveling from these countries and regions, even if you don’t have any symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or you have been tested and the test shows you do not have COVID-19.

Self-quarantine even if a test shows you don’t have COVID-19

You should self-quarantine even if you were tested before you came to the Netherlands and the test showed that you did not have COVID-19. This also applies if you got tested immediately after arriving in the Netherlands and the test result was negative.

After infection with coronavirus it takes between 2 and 14 days for symptoms to appear. In most cases symptoms appear within 10 days. A test is a snapshot of a particular moment in time. It does not show whether you will go on to develop COVID-19, so it is important that you stay at home for 10 days. You should get tested again if you develop symptoms, even if they are only mild.

Exemptions from self-quarantine

Certain travellers are exempted from self-quarantine, unless they have symptoms. 

Self-quarantine if you travelled through a country or region to which the self-quarantine advice applies

If your planned journey to the Netherlands takes you through an area to which the self-quarantine advice applies, try to change your route or flight if possible.

If this is not possible, for instance because the travel advisory changed just before you were due to travel, you should self-quarantine for 10 days upon your arrival in the Netherlands.

If you spend time in a country or area to which the Dutch self-quarantine advice applies, always follow the basic Dutch rules (such as staying 1.5 metres apart) as well as any stricter local measures.

There is one exception. If you drive in a private vehicle and without stopping through an area to which the Dutch self-quarantine advice applies, you do not have to self-quarantine when you arrive in the Netherlands. However, if you stop for any amount of time, even just for fuel, you must self-quarantine.

Getting to your accommodation

If your point of arrival in the Netherlands is an airport, train station or port, and you have come from an area to which the self-quarantine advice applies, you should preferably drive to your accommodation in a private vehicle.

The next best option is to book a taxi fitted with a hygiene screen. You should only travel by public transport if you have no other options. On public transport, wear a face mask and stay 1.5 metres away from other passengers.

Self-quarantine rules

Don’t leave your accommodation, whether that is your home, holiday accommodation or other temporary accommodation, like a hotel room. Do not travel or go to another location in the Netherlands. People arriving from abroad may not return to their country of origin. The following rules apply during self-quarantine:

• Nobody may visit you, except for medical purposes (for example, a doctor or a GGD official).
• Only members of your household or your travel companions may be in your accommodation with you. You must stay 1.5 metres away from them as much as possible. This means no hugging, kissing or sex.
• If you need medical assistance, do not go to the doctor or the hospital, but phone the doctor instead.
• Children under 13 may go to school, out-of-school care and sports clubs. 
• Ask other people to do grocery shopping for you. If this isn’t possible, you may briefly go out to do grocery shopping. But only if you do not have any symptoms of COVID-19.
• You can sit outside if you have a garden or balcony.
• Do not go to your place of work, but work from home. If you are a healthcare professional you may, only in exceptional cases and under certain conditions, go to work. Discuss this with the municipal health service (GGD) or your company doctor.
• Do not use public transport.

If you do not develop any symptoms that could be caused by coronavirus, you can end the self-quarantine after 10 days.

What to do if you develop symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

If you develop symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while self-quarantining, do not go outside except to get tested by the municipal health service (GGD). If you have severe coronavirus symptoms, phone your doctor. Stay at home or in your accommodation until you receive the results.

If the test is negative, continue to self-quarantine until the period of 10 days is over.

What to do if you have COVID-19

If a test shows that you have coronavirus:

• follow the advice of the municipal health service (GGD);
• your travel companions and/or family members must continue to self-quarantine;
• you cannot travel. If you do not live in the Netherlands, you may not return to your country of origin.
• The GGD will start source and contact tracing.