Traveling from Austria to Italy? Schengen Border is closed

The Schengen area within the European Union is one of the biggest achievements of the EU allowing freedom of movements by their citizens and visitors without border control. This is now no longer the case on the Austrian- Italian Border, and the reason is Coronavirus

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Tuesday said Austria was restricting travel from Italy, which has been hard hit by the coronavirus.

He told reporters Vienna was putting in place “an entry ban for people from Italy wanting to travel to Austria unless they have a doctor’s certificate”.

At the same time, Austria issued a level 6 travel warnings against neighboring Italy.

Austrians in neighboring Italy will be allowed to return as long as they agree to two-week home quarantine.

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said trains and flights from Italy to Austria would be stopped.

Border controls on this Schengen border will be put in place, he added, only allowing those who have a doctor’s certificate to enter.

An exception is cargo transport, which can continue, but health checks will be put in place.

Austria is also banning outdoor events with more than 500 people and indoor events with more than 100 people, he said. Universities and other higher education institutions will halt classes from Monday.

Austria currently records 157 cases or Coronavirus, with no death what would convert to 17.4 cases per million citizens. Neighboring Germany has 1281 cases, 2 deaths, converting to 15.4 cases per million. Italy, however, registered 9172 cases of COVID-19, 463 deaths, bringing it to 151,7 cases per million.