the810

Currently only required in Vienna (public transportation + essential shops), the rest of Austria is currently mask-free. The original idea was to reintroduce them in September, but I don't find it very likely since the situation remains stable.

It is also worth mentioning that Vienna Airport is not in Vienna, so OS flights are mask-free.

shorthauldad

There are a significant number of German tourists who are still wearing masks in Austria when they go shopping.

I can't see it either, but for different reasons: there is a regional election on 25 September in Tirol, plus local elections in Burgenland on 2 October, then the (Austrian national) presidential election on 9 October.

Judging by the polling and the politicial posters I've seen, re-introducing any restrictions before mid-October at the earliest would pour a significant quantity of fuel onto an already well-burning fire.

shorthauldad

Quick report from a AT-DE-UK journey (Innsbruck-Frankfurt-London) over the weekend.

Day 1: Innsbruck - Frankfurt
In Austria (at least outside Vienna) feels like Covid is a distant memory, the only place you see masked people is in hospitals and at doctors. We boarded the EuroCity train to Munich, some pax wore masks but less than 50%, got the feeling it was all the German tourists. Train crosses the AT/DE border at Kufstein/Kiefersfelden, at that point an announcement that masks were now required on the train, mask wearing went up to more or less 100% (unless you were eating or drinking, in which case no need for mask. We did quite a lot of eating and drinking). We changed trains at Munich central station, in the station concourse there were a lot of unmasked people, once on board the ICE to Frankfurt mask wearing back to 100%. Again, having F+B in front of you appeared to be a perfectly valid for removing your mask. In Frankfurt station, again lots of unmasked people.

Day 2: Frankfurt - London.
A very different situation, I didn't take my mask out of my bag at any point. Uber to the airport, driver not masked, mask hanging next to gear stick. At the airport, very very few people were masked (certainly not any of the airport staff or even the Bundespolizei), see photo. No announcements about masks. No masking at security or passport control. We had a bus gate (sigh), for the short bus ride to the aircraft somewhat strangely quite a lot of pax donned masks ("bus = Covid" now ingrained in German psyche?), but most of them took masks off when we reached the aircraft. Flew BA (Cityflyer) so no masks needed there, indeed the only mention of masks was a brief reminder during the safety demo that if the situation requires you to use the overhead oxygen masks you must remove any face mask first
Landed in in the UK and as has already been noted, another country where it's as if Covid never happened.

wooootles

Thanks for that report.

More than one month ago I did US-CPH-KEF, from start to finish it was entirely covid measure-free. Literally the only time I had to use a mask was at one stop in thingvellir where the winds were extremely high and cold at the time, I wore it just to keep my face warm!

nk15

I did LCY-Germany-Greece by plane a couple of weeks ago. No masks at all at LCY or the first flight (BA), 50% masked on the second flight (A3).

username

I wonder how easy it would be for a tourist to get Paxlovid in Germany and Netherlands if COVID positive. Leaving for a trip soon and want to have some plans in case I get COVID on the trip. Thanks.

NWIFlyer

I'm not sure whether or not it's common for Paxlovid to be given routinely to Covid patients elsewhere in the world, but in Europe the EMA regards it as a treatment for those "who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of the disease becoming severe", which is most likely those who have an underlying condition that would put them at risk.

So if you have a clinical need for it, which hopefully you don't, then you're likely going to be prescribed it. But if you have mild symptoms and no other conditions, then obtaining it over the counter isn't going to be straightforward given the risk of mixing it with other medicines. If you're sufficiently concerned, it might be prudent to take a note from your own healthcare professional setting out that it's a suitable treatment for you.

shorthauldad

Second leg of our Europe trip, today we did London - Paris by Eurostar train. No Covid paperwork for the journey (France got rid of the entry checks on 1 August), very few pax wearing masks at any point during the journey.

8420PR

For background: At the start of the pandemic, the whole anti-mask social media and later politics was an English language phenomenon, whereas instead the German language social media bot-farms and fringe politicians were heavily anti-vax from the beginning. We just have to accept that the majority of Germans (and Italians, Spanish etc) see masks as just masks, without the politics that has become attached to face-masks in other countries. It looks like face masks will continue to be required on long distance transport (as well as hospitals and old peoples homes) in Germany until 7th April 2023, though this is still being worked out.

I think the best analogy about following the rules is they are like seatbelts on planes - everyone wears them when the FA is checking, some remove them after being checked but still being required, most don't wear them when not required, some wear them the entire time, and for some people (especially the over-weight) they are uncomfortable.

With the exception of wearing masks on some forms of public transport, you would not notice any difference in Germany, Spain and Italy to the pre-covid times. Everything else is normal, and covid barely even mentioned (in the news and normal life). These countries are 100% open....

JD1905

Travelling from UK-Spain in 4 Weeks time - My understanding is that as I did not get a booster jab, I will be required to undertake an Antigen test before departure. Can anyone please provide any guidance on what sort of Antigen Tests these have to be, can I use the NHS ones etc?

Been a while since I had to consider these things!

DaveS

If your last jab was less than 270 days ago you are OK. Otherwise the booster is needed. It was possible (though not strictly allowed) to use a NHS test with a certificate provided by a third party company like Klarity. Klarity do not use the NHS kits now but will send you a kit for £17.

https://klarity.health/tuk-about-our-tests/

js1993

Germany just made it official: Masks until next April for travel.

largeeyes

Further restrictions will be left up to the regions. And the requirement is specifically FFP2 masks.

shorthauldad

FFP2 masks from October onwards, apparently. Children between the ages of 6 and 14 are only required to wear a "medical mask", along with staff.

kirkwoodj

just made sure no plans for Germany anytime soon ^