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HEALTH

Reader question: What kind of coronavirus test do I need to take for travel to Italy?

Italy has started to relax many of its travel restrictions, but all arrivals still need to show proof of a negative coronavirus test. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 20 May 2021 18:31 CEST
Updated: 25 May 2021 10:00 CEST
Reader question: What kind of coronavirus test do I need to take for travel to Italy?
Photo: Piero Cruciatti/AFP
 
Question: I will be travelling to Italy from another EU country soon. Is a negative coronavirus test result still required? And what type of test do I need to take?

As of May 16th, Italy has scrapped its quarantine requirement for all travellers from EU member states, including for those travelling for non-essential reasons. But these arrivals are still required to show a negative test result (just one, not two as was previously the case).

From most other countries at the moment stricter rules, including both quarantine and testing requirements, remain in place in almost all cases. See the Italian government’s entry rules by country here.

There are no exemptions to the testing requirement at present for fully-vaccinated travellers to Italy from any country, though the EU is looking at changing the rules.

Some of the travellers who are now allowed to enter Italy again from List C countries have written to The Local to ask whether they can take a rapid coronavirus test, or whether it’s mandatory to take a PCR swab test.

What are the types of test you can take?

Italy’s health ministry says that the results of both PCR and antigenic swab tests are accepted.

A PCR (molecular) test – this is the more reliable, but also more time-consuming test which tells you if you are actively infected with coronavirus. It involves taking a nose or throat swab and examining it for traces of the virus’s genetic material. The sample has to be sent to a lab for analysis, which means results can take around a day.

It’s considered the most reliable form of testing, even if it’s not 100 percent accurate. This kind of test can be taken alone, or may be needed to confirm the results of an antigen or antibody test.

An antigen test (sometmes known as a ‘rapid swab’ test) is also conducted via a nasal swab, but the sample is tested for proteins that are found on the surface of the virus – a simpler and quicker process which means you can get the result within around 15-20 minutes. These are the tests being used for the screening of passengers at airports, stations and ferry terminals in Italy.

READ ALSO: How you can get a free coronavirus test in 11 Italian cities

Italy does not appear to accept the results of sierological (blood) tests or rapid home tests, also known as lateral flow tests.

All travellers need a ‘green certificate’ proving their negative test result, according to the Italian health ministry. This is the name being used for a piece of paper from a testing centre which states your result. The Italian government has not given any requirements for the certificate to be in Italian, English or any particular language.

According to the health ministry’s guidance, travellers eligible for entry from “list C” countries must:

In the event of failure to produce a green certificate proving a negative swab test, passengers are subject to the following preventive measures:

  • ten days of self-isolation at the address provided in the digital Passenger Locator Form
  • swab test at the end of the ten-day isolation period.

Children aged 2 and under are exempt from the requirement.

As the travel rules are subject to change at short notice, anyone planning to travel to Italy is advised to check this official Italian government travel calculator, which gives the current requirements for entry from each country (in English).

Reader questions:

Travellers may also need to take a coronavirus test before travelling home from Italy. You can find testing stations at major Italian airports, and we have a list of testing centres which provide results in English here.

For more information on the requirements for travel to Italy (in English):

You can also call the Italian coronavirus information line:

  • From Italy: 1500 (toll-free number)
  • From abroad: +39 0232008345 , +39 0283905385

See the latest news updates from Italy in The Local’s travel section.

Member comments

  1. I have a problem with the test being taken 48 hour before. If you are coming from Australia or even the US with a connection, how is it possible you can actually make this deadline?! Most countries ask for 72 hours- a little more reasonable.
    Just think: you take your test 48 hours before your scheduled entry into Italy let’s say Tuesday at 10AM US time.
    You wait about 24 hours before you get the result. Sometimes longer in my experience. You get to let’s say Amsterdam where you connect on your way to Florence. You then wait four hours for your flight. Remember you’ve also lost 6 hours due to time change…guess what? You’re over the 48 hours! Ridiculous! And that’s the US. Imagine China or New Zealand!

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COVID-19 RULES

EXPLAINED: Has Italy still got any Covid rules in place?

Italy is blissfully free of Covid restrictions this summer - or is it? Here's what you need to know about the country's few remaining rules.

Published: 30 May 2023 13:20 CEST
EXPLAINED: Has Italy still got any Covid rules in place?

If you thought Italy’s Covid rules ought to have more or less expired by now, you’d be right – almost. 

There are essentially no travel restrictions, no vaccination or testing obligations, and very few situations in which people are required to mask up.

However, a few nationwide health rules do remain in place that are worth knowing about.

Here’s what they are.

Masks

One notable exception to Italy’s Covid rule relaxations is the continued requirement to wear a mask in parts of health and residential care facilities that house vulnerable or immunosuppressed patients.

This rule had been due to expire on April 30th, but was renewed by decree on April 29th and will remain in place until the end of the year.

READ ALSO: What to expect when travelling to Italy in summer 2023

That means if you work in such a facility or need to visit a friend or family member there, you should come equipped with a mask.

Under-6’s, people whose disability prevents them from wearing a mask, and carers for whom wearing a mask would prevent them from communicating with a disabled patient are the only exceptions.

Quarantine

Then there are the quarantine rules.

‘Italy still has quarantine rules?!’ you ask incredulously.

According to former health director Giovanni Rezza, who retired this May, the answer is yes.

It was Rezza who signed off on a health ministry decree dated December 31st, 2022 that established the country’s latest quarantine restrictions.

Tourists visiting Italy no longer face Covid-related restrictions, though rules may apply in some circumstances. Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

That decree says that those who test positive but are asymptomatic must self-isolate for five days, or until they test negative at a pharmacy or health facility – whichever happens sooner.

Those who do experience symptoms should either test negative before exiting quarantine, or wait until they are symptomless for at least two days.

At the end of the isolation period, those who have left quarantine without taking a test are required to wear a high-grade FFP2 mask in public until the tenth day since the onset of symptoms or first positive test result.

READ ALSO: What are the upcoming strikes in Italy and how could they impact you?

People who have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid should wear an FFP2 mask in public until the fifth day since the last point of contact.

Earlier this month, Rezza told journalists at the national broadcaster Rai that since no expiration date was stipulated, the decree remains in force indefinitely.

The health ministry doesn’t appear to have weighed in on the matter, so for now it should be assumed that the quarantine rules are still active.

Of course, this all relies on the honour system, as most Covid tests these days are taken (if at all) in people’s own homes without the knowledge or involvement of state health authorities.

Travel

Finally, there have been some recent reports of new international travel restrictions specifically relating to China.

There has been talk of Italy’s airports reintroducing tests for arrivals from China. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP.

Towards the end of May, newspapers La Stampa and La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reported that Covid tests had been reintroduced at Italy’s airports for arrivals from China, which has seen an uptick in cases.

However, neither the health ministry website nor the Foreign Ministry’s Viaggiare Sicuri (‘Travel Safe’) website appear to have published any updates to this effect.

In December 2022, Italy’s health ministry mandated that all arrivals from China must produce a recent negative test result before leaving for Italy and to take a test on arrival, though this rule was due to expire at the end of January.

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