The Dutch government wants to introduce a mandatory coronavirus test for travellers returning from designated high-risk areas by car, acting Health Minister Hugo de Jonge has announced. 

Mandatory coronavirus tests for drivers travelling from high-risk areas

At the end of 2020, the government announced that anyone travelling to the Netherlands by plane, bus, train, or boat would have to provide proof of a negative test result before arriving in the country. Everyone travelling from a high-risk area - any country not included in the government’s list of safe countries with a low COVID-19 risk - is now required to carry out a PCR text no more than 72 hours before departure, as well as a rapid test. 

Now, the cabinet is looking into extending the mandatory test rule to include motorists. The PCR test would have to be carried out a maximum of 72 hours before arriving in the Netherlands, and travellers will be able to decide where they get tested, as long as they are tested before arriving in the Netherlands. 

For example, a family returning by car from a holiday in France could choose to be tested in either France or Belgium before crossing the border into the Netherlands. At the border, travellers would then be randomly checked and expected to provide proof of a negative test result. 

Mandatory 10-day quarantine upon arrival in the Netherlands

Anyone travelling by car will also be expected to go into quarantine upon arrival in the Netherlands. Travellers from high-risk areas will be expected to carry a quarantine statement declaring the traveller’s intention to quarantine for at least five days once they return home. 

The quarantine should last a total of 10 days, but after five days a traveller can choose to get tested for coronavirus. If the test is negative, they will no longer have to quarantine. Companies offering international transport will also only be allowed to offer transport to travellers with a quarantine statement (as well as two negative test results).