Coronavirus (covid-19): courts and tribunals planning and preparation

If FCDO travel advice changes when you are abroad

Travel advice is under constant review and may change at short notice, if risks in a country change.

Our travel advice may change while you are in a country to advise against all travel, or all but essential travel, because of COVID risks. If this happens, we do not advise you to return immediately to the UK. Instead, you should follow the local advice on any measures the local authorities are taking to control the virus before your return to the UK.

If you decide you wish to shorten your stay abroad because of a change in travel advice you should:

1. contact your airline and travel company to discuss your options
2. check if you need to self-isolate on your return
3. provide your journey and contact details before you travel using the passenger locator form

Travel in Italy

All travellers entering Italy must comply with the regulations of the region they are visiting. Public transport links may be less frequent and seating limited to comply with social distancing measures. Masks must be worn on board public services. Taxi and car hire options are widely available.

Rail services are returning to their usual timetables, but there are still some reduced domestic services and international travel is limited. Some cross-border bus companies have cancelled their services.

Passenger ferry schedules remain subject to change and cancellations. Speak to your tour operator or transport provider for the latest information.

More information on all these requirements is available from the Ministry of Health or the European Union’s Re-Open EU page.

Coming to court or tribunal during the coronavirus outbreak

Courts and tribunals are open for face to face hearings, making sure that judges, legal professionals, staff and all those attending hearings can maintain effective social distancing.

Local tier restrictions allow people to travel when necessary. This includes all those required to attend a court or tribunal, including jurors, witnesses, defendants, complainants and victims. All our buildings are COVID-secure.

You should not come to any of our court and tribunal buildings if:

• you have coronavirus symptoms
• if you have tested positive for COVID-19 or are waiting for a test result
• if you have been instructed by the NHS to self-isolate

Please contact the court or tribunal before you are due to attend so that suitable arrangements can be made for your hearing. Read our guidance about coming to court during the pandemic.

While public health legislation allows those involved in legal proceedings to come out of self-isolation when necessary, you must consult with the court or tribunal first who will consider and decide on appropriate arrangements.

Read the latest NHS information about Coronavirus (COVID19).

We have increased use of telephone, video and other technology to hold many hearings remotely. We make best possible use of the equipment available and are updating and adding to that. Some hearings, the most obvious being jury trials, cannot be conducted remotely, but take place in COVID secure buildings.

Read our guidance on how HMCTS will use telephone and video technology during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Your hearing notice will inform you whether it is taking place in person, via video (CVP) or telephone. If you are self-isolating and unable to attend in person, please contact the court or tribunal immediately so alternative arrangements can be considered.

If you are asked to attend court or tribunal to participate in legal proceedings – such as providing evidence as a witness or a defendant – then this counts as an essential reason for travel. Have your hearing letter with you if you need to provide that proof your journey is essential. Remember to bring any other papers you need for your hearing with you too.

Media and members of the public will be also able to attend court hearings in person if safe to do so, unless self-isolating based on government and NHS advice, or have heard from us.

Examples of possible development of symptoms (from actual cases)

A man in his 40s in Japan:

• Day #1: malaise and muscle pain
• later diagnosed with pneumonia

A man in his 60s in Japan:

Day #1: initial symptoms of low-grade fever and sore throat.

A man in his 40s in Japan:

• Day #1: chills, sweating and malaise
• Day #4: fever, muscle pain and cough

A woman in her 70s, in Japan:

• Day #1: 38° fever for a few minutes
• Day #2-3: went on a bus tour
• Day #5: visited a medical institution
• Day #6: showed symptoms of pneumonia.

A woman in her 40s, in Japan:

• Day #1: low-grade fever
• Day #2: 38° fever
• Day #6: being treated at home.

A man in his 60s, in Japan:

• Day #1: Cold
• Day #6: Fever of 39° C. (102.2 F)
• Day #8: Pneumonia

Another patient, in China with a history of type 2 diabetes and hypertension:

• Jan. 22: Fever and cough
• Feb. 5: Died

First death in the Philippines (a 44-year-old Chinese thought to have had other pre-existing health conditions):

• Jan. 25: Fever, cough, and sore throat (hospitalized)
• Developed severe pneumonia
• Feb. 2: Died

[]

If you are told to self-isolate via an NHS app

Self-isolate immediately if you are told to by the NHS Test and Trace app or the NHS COVID-19 app.

This applies even if you have had a negative test result under the Test to Release scheme and stopped self-isolating.

If you are told to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace app or the NHS COVID-19 app NHS app before you take a test under the Test to Release scheme, you should:

• cancel your test
• continue self-isolating for 10 days from when you were last in contact with the person who tested positive for coronavirus

Read the rules about self-isolating if you’re told to do so by the NHS Test and Trace app or the NHS COVID-19 app.

Healthcare in Italy

If you need medical advice or believe you have symptoms of coronavirus you should contact your local GP, your local ASL (Azienda Sanitaria Locale) or one of the regional numbers listed on the Italian Ministry of Health website before visiting a health centre.

In some Italian regions, you may be required to take a coronavirus test if you spend 48 hours or two consecutive nights in a hospital for any reason. If you test positive, you will be required to quarantine, which may last from 10 days to 3 weeks.

In the case of an emergency you should call Italy’s 112 emergency number. English speaking operators are available.

For contact details for English speaking doctors, visit our list of healthcare providers.

Your emotional and mental wellbeing is important. Read guidance on how to look after your mental wellbeing and mental health.

View Health for further details on healthcare in Italy.

See also the guidance on healthcare if you’re waiting to return to the UK.

Countries, territories and regions on the travel corridor list

You do not need to self-isolate if you’re travelling to England from one of the countries, territories or regions listed on this page. You must have spent the last 10 days in one of these places, or in the UK.

If you visited somewhere that is not on the list in the 10 days before your arrival in England, you will need to self-isolate. Visiting includes making a .

You will still need to complete the passenger locator form before you enter the UK.

• Anguilla
• Aruba
• Australia
• the Azores
• Bahrain
• Barbados

• Botswana (arrivals before 4am 12 December need to self-isolate)

• British Antarctic Territory
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands

• the Channel Islands

• Cuba
• Falkland Islands

• Faroe Islands

• Fiji
• Finland

• Greek islands: Corfu, Crete, Kos, Rhodes, Zakynthos

• Greenland
• Grenada
• Ireland

• the Isle of Man

• Israel and Jerusalem (read about the UK position on Jerusalem)

• Macao (Macau)
• Madeira
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Montserrat
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Qatar
• Rwanda

• Saudi Arabia (arrivals before 4am 12 December need to self-isolate)

• Seychelles
• South Korea
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• Sri Lanka
• St Barthélemy
• St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Pierre and Miquelon
• St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Taiwan
• Vietnam

Public spaces and services

Mainland Portugal

Measures are in place throughout Portugal to control the spread of the virus. These measures differ according to the level of risk in each municipality. There are four levels of risk: moderate, high, very high and extremely high. Check the level of risk in your municipality and use this tool (in Portuguese) to confirm the measures that may affect you.

Nationwide measures

Subject to the restrictions in your municipality and the rules on social distancing, hand hygiene and the use of face coverings, most shops and services, restaurants, cultural venues and sports facilities are open. Opening and closing times may vary between municipalities.

Your temperature can be measured on entry to workplaces, schools, public transport, shopping centres, cultural venues and sports facilities. You will be denied entry if you refuse the test or your temperature is over 38ºc.

You can be asked to produce a negative COVID-19 test for access to healthcare facilities, schools, residential homes, prison centres and other places, as determined by the health authorities

Obligation to remain at home

If you live or are staying in one of the high risk municipalities, there is a mandatory requirement to remain at home as follows:

High-risk municipalities:

On weekdays and weekends from 11pm to 5am

Very high and extremely high-risk municipalities :

• On weekdays from 11pm to 5am
• On weekends from 1pm to 5am

During the weekend, shops and services will close at 1pm, except for pharmacies, clinics and surgeries, grocery stores, funeral agencies and petrol stations. Restaurants can remain open after 1pm for food delivery services only.

You can leave home during these periods if you have an emergency or you need to go to work, return home, go for a short walk or walk a pet.

Christmas

• 23 December – obligation to remain at home from 11pm unless you are travelling from one location to another
• Christmas Eve/Christmas morning — obligation to be at home from 2am to 5am
• Christmas Day/Boxing day – obligation to be at home from 2am to 5am
• 26 December – obligation to be at home from 11pm to 5am

From 27 to 31 December, there is a mandatory requirement to remain at home according to the level of risk in your municipality. See previous section for further information.

New Year

• New Year’s Eve – obligation to be at home from 11pm to 5am
• New Year’s Day, 2 and 3 January — obligation to be at home from 1pm to 5am

From 4 January until further notice, there is a mandatory requirement to remain at home according to the level of risk in your municipality. See previous section for further information.

Travel restrictions over the New Year holiday period

There is a nationwide ban on travelling between municipalities over the New Year period, as follows:

• From 12:01am on 31 December to 5am on 4 January
• On 31 December travel on public roads is prohibited from 11pm to 5am
• On 1, 2 and 3 January travel on public roads is prohibited from 1pm to 5am

For further information on the measures in place over the holiday period, see the Portuguese government’s website (in Portuguese)

Madeira and Porto Santo

The autonomous region of Madeira is currently in a state of calamity. Measures are in place to limit the spread of the virus. Details can be found on the regional government’s website (in Portuguese). See also these frequently asked questions (in Portuguese). Information in English is available on the Madeiran Tourist Office website.

The Azores

The regional government has implemented a regional state of alert. The islands of Santa Maria, São Miguel, Terceira, Pico and Faial are in a state of calamity. The islands of Graciosa, São Jorge, Flores and Corvo are in a state of contingency.

Measures are in place throughout the archipelago to limit the spread of the virus. Details can be found on the regional government’s website. You will need to access this website through a chrome browser.

Healthcare in Portugal

If you are feeling unwell and need assistance, call the Ministry’s helplines on:

• Mainland Portugal: (+351) 808 24 24 24, press 9 for English
• Madeira and Porto Santo: call (+351) 800 24 24 20
• Azores, call (+351) 808 24 60 24 (available from 8.30am to 6.30pm)

COVID-19 tests are carried out free-of-charge if you have a prescription issued by a national health service doctor. Tests are undertaken by appointment at hospitals and laboratories.

You can also be tested for COVID-19 privately, without a prescription, if you are travelling outside the EU or to Madeira, Porto Santo or the Azores. You will have to show your passport and confirmed travel bookings.

If you are travelling to Madeira, Porto Santo or the Azores, tests are carried out free-of-charge at the Nova Medical School in Lisbon. For more information and to book an appointment, see the .

Tests are also available free-of-charge at these laboratories on mainland Portugal for travel to the Azores.

You will have to pay for the test in full if you are travelling to any other destination. If you have health or travel insurance, check whether it will cover any expense you incur.

You will need to go to a pharmacy to get most medicines, though some non-prescription medication is sold at health stores in supermarkets and shopping centres. Pharmacies are widely available and are identified with a green cross. Find a pharmacy near you on the Pharmacy Association website.

If you have a UK prescription, take it to a pharmacy and ask the pharmacist whether they can dispense your medication for you. Remember the pharmacist will have to apply national rules so may not be able to give you the same strength or dosage. Some medicines may not be available or may not be authorised for sale in Portugal.

If you need a repeat prescription, go to the nearest health centre or hospital A&E.

For contact details for English speaking doctors visit our list of healthcare providers and healthcare for UK nationals visiting Portugal.

Your emotional and mental wellbeing is important. Read guidance on how to look after your mental wellbeing and mental health

View Health for further details on healthcare in Portugal.

See also the guidance on healthcare if you’re waiting to return to the UK.

Travel in Belgium

The Belgian Government has a number of measures in place to limit the spread of COVID-19. These measures are kept under active review and are subject to an ongoing assessment of local conditions.

You should check the latest nationwide updates published by the Belgian Government on their website.

The Belgian Government has announced that strict measures will remain in place across the country until at least 15 January. These include: the closure of restaurants, cafés and bars (except for takeaway service); closure of hairdressers and beauty salons, a curfew from midnight — 5am (note in Brussels and Wallonia the curfew is in place from 10pm – 6am, except in Wallonia on December 24 and 25 when it is midnight – 6am); and the limitation of close contacts to one person (two contacts if you live alone).

Shops are allowed to open but shopping must be done individually or with a maximum of one other person, for a maximum of 30 minutes in a store. Teleworking is mandatory. Museums and swimming pools are also open. Other cultural venues, zoos and indoor sports facilities (except for children under 12) are closed. Places of worship are open and services can take place with a maximum of 15 people.

Further details can be found on the Belgian Government website

You must respect the rules on social distancing requirements at all times, including on public transport.

How Cases Are Growing

Here’s how the number of new cases and deaths are changing over time:

New reported cases by day

10,000

20,000

30,000 cases

Feb.

March

April

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

New cases

7-day average

These are days with a reporting anomaly. Read more .

Note: The seven-day average is the average of a day and the previous six days of data.

New reported deaths by day

500

1,000 deaths

Feb.

March

April

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

New deaths

7-day average

Note: Scale for deaths chart is adjusted from cases chart to display trend.

The New York Times has found that official tallies in the United States and in more than a dozen other countries have undercounted deaths during the coronavirus outbreak because of limited testing availability.

Local restriction tiers

• Guidance: Local restriction tiers: what you need to know
• Guidance: Local restriction tiers: what you need to know – alternative formats
• Guidance: Full list of local restriction tiers by area
• Guidance: Tier 1: Medium alert
• Guidance: Tier 2: High alert
• Guidance: Tier 3: Very High alert
• Guidance: Tier 4: Stay at Home
• Tier posters: Medium, High, Very High and Stay at Home
• Statement: Returning to a regional tiered approach
• Guidance: Local COVID-19 outbreaks: lessons learnt and good practice
• Guidance: Holidays in areas with local coronavirus restrictions
• Guidance: Draft options for regional or local coronavirus interventions
• Guidance: Government’s approach to managing local coronavirus outbreaks
• Guidance: Containing and managing local coronavirus outbreaks
• Speech: Prime Minister’s statement on coronavirus 3 July 2020

Assessing and managing coronavirus risk

We have comprehensively assessed risk to staff and users and are ensuring the safety of anyone who comes in to our buildings by applying published court and tribunal coronavirus safety controls. These have been endorsed by Public Health England and Public Health Wales.

A process for checking compliance at each site is in place, with controls reviewed and monitored at each court and tribunal building. We encourage all court users to raise any issues you experience within our buildings with local managers.

We will continue to carefully consider whether additional or different guidance or controls are required to manage the change in any risks.

Risks within general office locations, where social distancing and other safety measures are in place, will continue to be assessed and in line with government guidance for ‘working safely in offices and contact centres’. An assessment tool provides court and tribunal colleagues with approved standards to assess individual building safety for all users.

Our organisational risk assessment enables us to review our buildings safety regularly — allowing us to identify, mitigate and take action wherever necessary.

• Organisational risk assessment (PDF, 472KB, 12 pages)
• Assessment tool (PDF, 486KB, 19 pages)
• Additional safety guidance for regular court users (PDF, 201KB, 10 pages)
• Providing evidence as a witness during the coronavirus outbreak (PDF, 182KB, 8 pages)

These indicators will guide local assessments of all our buildings. It will help us to identify and act quickly on any areas of concern. And if we cannot resolve any major issues swiftly, we will temporarily close the building until we are satisfied that it is safe to re-open.

You should contact the court or tribunal direct to request a copy of an individual COVID-19 risk assessment for our buildings.

Staff in courts and tribunal buildings are working hard to ensure the safety of those who use them. Decisions about the use of specific properties for particular types of hearings, such as criminal jury trials and Nightingale courts, will be made according to agreed procedures.

Healthcare in Spain

For contact details for English speaking doctors visit our list of healthcare providers and healthcare for UK nationals visiting Spain.

Your emotional and mental wellbeing is important. Read guidance on how to look after your mental wellbeing and mental health

If you cannot travel back to the UK due to ill health or reduced mobility, you may wish to consider looking for longer-term accommodation in Spain until the State of Emergency is lifted. If you need medical treatment, the UK EHIC is still valid for the rest of 2020.

See also the guidance on healthcare if you’re waiting to return to the UK.

View Health for further details on healthcare in Spain.

Timeline of Events

• On January 31, HHS declared Coronavirus a Public Health Emergency in the US
  As of Jan. 31, the Wuhan coronavirus is officially a public health emergency in the United States, Alex Azar, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced at a White House press briefing.
• On Jan. 31, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a federal quarantine for 14 days affecting the 195 American evacuees from Wuhan, China. Starting Sunday, Feb. 2, U.S. citizens, permanent residents and immediate family who have visited China’s Hubei province will undergo a mandatory 14 days quarantine and, if they have visited other parts of China, they would be screened at airports and asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. The last time the CDC had issued a quarantine was over 50 years ago in the 1960s, for smallpox.
• President Donald Trump signed an order on Jan. 31 for the U.S. to deny entry to foreign nationals who traveled to China within the preceding two weeks, aside from the immediate family of U.S. citizens.
• On Jan. 30, the CDC had confirmed the first case of person to person transmission in the U.S.: [] the husband of the Chicago, Illinois case who had returned from Wuhan, China on Jan. 13 and who tested positive for the virus on Jan. 24).
• CDC stated on Jan. 30 that «It is likely there will be more cases of 2019-nCoV reported in the U.S. in the coming days and weeks, including more person-to-person spread.»[]
• The virus had been confirmed in 5 states.
• On Jan. 31, New York City health officials vehemently denied the rumor regarding a coronavirus case in the city .[]. On Feb. 1, however, the city’s health commissioner did report that there was a test being performed on a person under 40 who had returned from China, developed matching symptoms, and tested negative to the seasonal flu.
• Most US patients had recently visited Wuhan.
• All of the first five U.S. cases were described as mild.
• A study on the first US case of novel coronavirus detailed mild symptoms followed by pneumonia

U.S. Airlines suspended ALL flights between the U.S. and China

On Friday, January 31, Delta, American and United announced they would temporarily suspend all of their mainland China flights in response to the coronavirus outbreak.[]

Prior to this January 31 announcement:

• UNITED AIRLINES
  on Jan. 28 had announced it would cut 24 flights between the U.S. and China for the first week of February.
• AMERICAN AIRLINES
  on Jan. 29 had announced it would suspend flights from Los Angeles to Shanghai and Beijing from Feb. 9 through March 27, 2020. It will maintain its flight schedules (10 daily A/R) from Dallas-Fort Worth to Shanghai and Beijing, as well as from Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth to Hong Kong.
• DELTA had not adjusted its schedule of direct flights from the U.S. to China. It is the only airline with direct flights to not take action so far.

[]

Travel Alert: Do Not Travel to China

• The U.S. State Department on January 30 issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel to China Alert [] (the highest level of alert).
• Previously, on January 29, the advisory was set at a lower «Level 3: Reconsider Travel» advising not to travel to Hubei Province: (Level 4) and reconsider travel to the remainder of China (Level 3).
• The CDC on Jan. 28 issued a Level 3 Warning, recommending that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China [].

Screening incoming passengers at 20 airports in the U.S.

On January 17, the CDC announced that 3 airports in the United States would begin screening incoming passengers from China: SFO, JFK, and LAX [] Other 2 airports were added subsequently, and on January 28, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that 15 additional U.S. airports (bringing the total to 20) would begin screening incoming travelers from China.

Below is the complete list of airports where screening for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is in place:

• Los Angeles International (LAX)
• San Francisco International (SFO)
• Chicago O’Hare
• New York JFK
• Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International
• Houston George Bush Intercontinental 
• Dallas-Fort Worth International
• San Diego International
• Seattle-Tacoma International
• Honolulu International
• Anchorage Ted Stevens International
• Minneapolis-St. Paul International
• Detroit Metropolitan
• Miami International
• Washington Dulles International
• Philadelphia International
• Newark Liberty International
• Boston Logan International
• El Paso International
• Puerto Rico’s San Juan Airport

Healthcare in Nigeria

Pharmacies are classified as an essential service, and will remain open. Most medicines that require a prescription from a doctor in the UK will require one in Nigeria. If necessary, you should get an electronic prescription from your medical practitioner to enable a local doctor to write one.

Unlike in the UK, you will need to go to a pharmacy or chemist to obtain most over-the-counter medicines. Only a very limited selection are available at supermarkets or other stores. Pharmacies are widely available. They will accept prescriptions from the UK.

For contact details for English speaking doctors visit our list of healthcare providers.

See also the guidance on healthcare if you’re waiting to return to the UK.

Training and flying instructors

Flying instructors and support staff should be formally informed of the risks and all actions being taken to combat the risks. This is to ensure they:

• understand the specific risks and mitigations
• understand site protocols
• are physically and mentally well enough to engage in a return to training

It will be for individual training organisations to agree with their instructors any conditions for their return.

Instructors deemed clinically extremely vulnerable should continue to follow government advice.

In most cases it will not be possible to keep a distance of 2 metres apart inside a training aircraft. Measures to manage the risk of transmission will depend on the type and size of the aircraft.

Where social distancing guidelines cannot be followed in full, training schools and instructors should take the most appropriate actions to reduce the risk of transmission.

Social distancing also applies to all parts of a business where students or instructors may congregate outside of the aircraft. Examples of this include reception areas and classrooms.

Cleaning is vital in all areas of the training venue and aircraft. Training organisations should write and implement a cleaning plan. This should be updated when new information becomes available.

It should ensure that all areas to be accessed by flying instructors, students and support staff are deep cleaned to a minimum standard. This includes regular cleaning for:

• surfaces on board the aircraft
• all other areas accessed by students, instructors and support staff.
• all frequently touched surfaces, for example, door handles, banister rails, buttons and toilet areas

The government has published guidance on working safely and how this can be applied in the workplace. Each business will need to translate this into the specific actions it needs to take depending on the nature of the business and how it is operated, managed and organised.

Actions you could take include:

• more frequent hand washing and surface cleaning
• wearing a face covering, where it is safe to do so
• disinfection of the aircraft (i.e. frequent touch points including headsets) and outside facilities to a standard which follows government guidance for cleaning in non-healthcare settings
• keeping the activity time involved as short as possible
• using screens or barriers (where safe and appropriate to do so) to separate people from each other. These should only be introduced into aircraft under an approved modification
• using side-to-side working (rather than face-to-face) whenever possible
• provision and use of hand sanitiser
• reducing and fixing the number of people each person has contact with — for example, training organisations should consider limiting the number of students per instructor (so each person works with only a few others).
• ensuring only essential people are present in the aircraft for the purposes of safety and effective learning

Organisations should make customers aware of, and encourage compliance with, .

Testing

• Announcement: More rapid COVID-19 tests to be rolled out across England
• Roll out of lateral flow tests to local authorities
• Policy paper: Community testing
• Announcement: Community testing to help lift restrictions in highest tiers
• Guidance: Coronavirus (COVID-19): testing guidance for employers
• Announcement: NHS COVID-19 app launches across England and Wales
• Policy paper: Allocation of COVID-19 swab tests in England
• Announcement: New NHS Test and Trace app launched
• Announcement: NHS Test and Trace service to strengthen regional contact tracing
• Policy paper: Developing NHS Test and Trace business plan
• Guidance: Types and uses of coronavirus tests
• Statement: Update on randox test kits
• Announcement: Regular retesting rolled out for care home staff and residents
• Announcement: Walk through local testing sites now offering appointments
• Announcement: Whole home testing rolled out to all care homes in England
• Announcement: Government launches NHS test and trace service
• Guidance: How NHS test and trace works
• Announcement: Everyone with symptoms now eligible for coronavirus tests
• Policy paper: How the government intends to scale up testing programmes to provide a test to anyone who needs one
• Guidance: Privacy notice for testing
• Guidance: Getting tested for coronavirus if you live or work in Liverpool
• Guidance: Testing for coronavirus at home
• Announcement: Community testing offer rolled out to highest risk Tier 2 areas

Social distancing

The risk of transmission is small at 2 metres and where possible, people taking part in General Aviation activities should maintain 2 metres distance from people outside their household or support bubble.

If you cannot keep a 2 metre distance, reduce the risk by maintaining a 1 metre distance where possible, and taking suitable actions:

• limit the number of people or households that come into contact with each other
• increase the frequency of hand washing and access to hand sanitiser
• use face coverings
• sit / stand side by side or behind other people, rather than facing them
• stay outdoors, rather than indoors, where possible
• touch as few surfaces as possible and increase surface cleaning
• minimise the time spent close to other people, where possible
• keep the activity time involved as short as possible
• making adjustments for those with specific needs or protected characteristics, for example disabled people, older people and pregnant women
• consider groups of people who process information differently or who may not be able to distance from others
• advise people to avoid loud talking, shouting or singing
• dispose of waste safely, including items such as used disposable face coverings

Read .

Travel in Switzerland

You should follow the rules on hygiene and social distancing. These include:

• Washing your hands regularly and thoroughly
• Keeping a distance of at least 1.5 metres from other people
• If it is not possible to maintain that distance, wear a face mask.

Wearing a face mask is compulsory when travelling on public transport, and at Geneva, Zurich and Basel airports. It is compulsory to wear a face mask on all flights to and from Switzerland. Failure to do so is punishable by a fine. Children under the age of 12 are exempt from this requirement, as are individuals who are unable to wear a mask for medical reasons. Cantons have imposed further restrictions, and you should check for further details.

Curfews

Nationwide curfews are in place as follows:

• On weekdays, the curfew lasts from 9pm until 5am the following morning; and
• On weekends the curfew lasts from 9pm on Friday evening until 5am on Monday morning.

There will be a lockdown from 9pm on 31 December until 5am on 4 January.

There remains an ongoing curfew for those who have a chronic medical condition. If you are a Residence Permit holder aged over 65 you are only allowed to go outside between 10am and 1pm unless you are going out to work. If you are a Residence Permit holder born after 1 January 2001 you are only allowed to go outside between 1pm and 4pm unless you are going out to work. Those aged over 65 and under 20 are not allowed to take public transport.

These restrictions do not apply to those visiting for tourism.

See if you fall into one of these categories and need to travel.

Healthcare in Poland

The Polish National Health Fund 24 hour info line (dial 800 190 590, or dial 989, and then press 6 after calling either number) provides English language advice on what steps to take if you are in Poland and suspect you might have coronavirus, and information on vaccinations. A list of hospitals with coronavirus facilities can be found on the Polish government website.

For contact details for English speaking doctors, visit our list of healthcare providers.

Your emotional and mental wellbeing is important. Read guidance on how to look after your mental wellbeing and mental health.

View Health for further details on healthcare in Poland.

See also the guidance on healthcare if you’re waiting to return to the UK.

Travel in Greece

Travel within Greece is currently restricted, in line with measures outlined above. You should comply with all measures announced by the Greek authorities. The below advice applies to any travel which is permitted within the restrictions currently in place.

You should also note that, as a result of current restrictions on movements, transport services (including flights, intercity buses, trains and ferries) are liable to disruption at the present time.

It is mandatory to wear face masks on public transport (including flights and ferries), at airports and in taxis.
Travel in a private car or a taxi is subject to certain restrictions (eg limited to a maximum number of adult passengers per vehicle) according to local measures outlined above.

If you are travelling via ferry, you will need to complete a health questionnaire and hand it to the ferry operator before boarding. The necessary forms will be provided by the operator: you should contact them directly if you need further information. Temperature checks may also be carried out before boarding; and it is obligatory to wear masks on all ferries, including on open air decks, where capacity is limited to allow for social distancing. No celebrations are allowed on board ferries.

If you are travelling by internal (domestic) flights, you are also required to wear masks throughout the journey. Specific measures relating to check-in, baggage allowances and other details are in place to reduce the spread of coronavirus. You should check with your operator directly for further detail.

Changes to what is open or permitted, including international travel options, are subject to change and may occur at short notice. Keep up to date with the latest information and advice from your travel contact or business partners, as well as the sources in this travel advice.