Yesterday the European Union removed the United States from the safe travel list, recommending that the bloc's 27 member states impose new restrictions on American travelers due to the high rates of coronavirus infection in the U.S.
Now Italy has done just that, adding a testing requirement for vaccinated visitors and a quarantine period for unvaccinated ones.
According to the Italian Ministry of Health, all travelers, whether vaccinated or not, who want to enter Italy after having spent the previous 14 days in the U.S. must now present negative results from a molecular or antigenic Covid-19 test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival in Italy (kids under age 6 are exempt).
Also required: the completion of a digital passenger locator form for each visitor for contact-tracing purposes.
Additionally, unvaccinated Americans must complete a 5-day self-isolation period before getting tested again (at their own expense) before they can start their Italian vacations in earnest.
As USA Today points out, Italy's previous entry requirements for Americans involved only filling out the locator form and showing one of three documents: proof of vaccination, proof of recovery from the virus, or proof of a negative test result. Now all visitors from the U.S. need test results, and the unvaccinated will need to cool their heels in time-out for a while.
Once you've entered Italy, you'll also need a digital "green pass" in order to enter restaurants, museums, train stations, and many other public places. The pass comes in the form of a scannable QR code (on paper or your smartphone) that verifies you are fully vaccinated or received a negative Covid-19 test no more than 48 hours before arriving in Italy. (We do not recommend emulating the TikTokker who got his pass tattooed on his arm.)
In the wake of the EU's recommendation and the USA's ongoing Delta variant surge, expect more European countries to implement new restrictions on Americans in the coming days.
