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  • I had planned an international visit to Europe (from South America to France, England and Denmark) for December 2022 (in two months).
  • I got covid19 two weeks ago (Early October: I am better if still recovering), with a positive PCR test.
  • I was told (by the government officials who contacted me) to expect PCR tests to be positive for 3 months (hence during my European visit).

While I do not expect to be contagious in two months, I am wondering if I will have trouble boarding the plane (on the way out, on the way back, or even during my trip, flying from France to Denmark) or even boarding a train (taking the train between France and England as I try to avoid planes when I can) if my PCR tests still come out positive, and I am considering canceling my trip (which would be a mess, with many train tickets already bought).

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    The rules for France are here diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/coming-to-france/… and for Denmark here en.coronasmitte.dk/travel-rules If you test positive within two weeks of your outbound flight you should probably contact the airline(s) and check with your travel insurance provider that you are still covered
    – Traveller
    Oct 22, 2022 at 12:08
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    Even though it can happen that one tests positive for a longer time, my understanding is that this is unusual. Also I believe they many of the countries which still have entry requirements rely on vaccination proof rather than negative tests these days. See also reopen.europa.eu
    – jcaron
    Oct 23, 2022 at 14:21

2 Answers 2

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Each country has their own regulations so you need to check specifically for your first country to make sure that you are not denied boarding.

Most countries in Europe have relaxed restrictions quite a bit. For example Germany has free entry https://www.germany.info/us-en/covid-19/2321562 (as of June 14, 2022) without test or proof vaccination required.

Within Europe, any type of test requirement is highly unlikely. I was in Germany and Italy last week and no one checked anything. There are still occasionally mask mandates, primarily in public transportation.

Summary: You should be fine. Most countries don't require testing anymore and even if they do, an Antigen Test is fine in most cases. While it's possible that PCR is positive for three months it's unlikely. When I got Covid I was AntiGen negative after 10 days and PCR negative after about a month (didn't test earlier). If you DO test positive on an Antigen Test you should definitely NOT travel.

CAVEAT: Covid requirements do change frequently and are often poorly documented. It's possible that the Germany link I posted is already out of date. You should keep checking rules for your specify country of entry on a regular basis.

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IATA provides a handy map of global travel restrictions. For Europe we see the following:

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The only country still having any restrictions whatsoever is Germany, which still has some special rules for flights arriving directly from China. Therefore as of today you may fly into any EU country without being asked for either a COVID test or a COVID vaccination card.

Given that every country in Europe has now resorted to "living with the virus", it is extremely unlikely that any tests would be required in December 2022.

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