Negative travel advice for the ABC islands and the Canaries: the whole world on orange

The last ‘yellow’ areas have now been changed too; from today the whole world is on orange. With that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has put an end to the conflicting travel advisories.

November’s exceptions: the ABC islands and the Canaries on yellow

Despite the spread of corona (COVID-19) Dutch travellers were still going on beach holiday. The colour codes used by the ministry gave reason to.

The Canary Islands had code ‘yellow’, which means there are safety risks but holiday travel is possible. The general government advice (‘Do not travel’) clashed with the ministry's official travel advisory. Which is why TUI and Transavia kept flying to the Canary Islands.

Curaçao, also ‘yellow’ and described as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, escaped a negative advisory from both camps. Which is why that destination grew in popularity.

• On 4 November (Bonaire) and 19 November (Aruba) the other ABC islands opened as well. The number of coronavirus infections had fallen enough.
• In between, on 13 November, Curaçao did record a daily high in new positive corona tests. “The number of Dutch people on Curaçao has nothing to do with it”, was said at the time.
• Sint Maarten, as it happens, was given yellow status at the very end of November. Madeira and the Azores (Portugal) were dipped in orange instead.

Where things stand in December: the whole world on code orange

• On 8 December Curaçao went to orange after all, essential travel only. “Because of a rise in coronavirus infections on Curaçao there is an increased risk”, the ministry said.

And today the other ABC islands follow, as do Sint Maarten and the Canary Islands. With that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs automatically puts the whole world on code orange.

Negative travel advice (essential travel only) from today:

• Bonaire
• Aruba
• Sint Maarten
• Canary Islands

“Because of the serious situation in the Netherlands it is necessary for people to stay at home as much as possible”, the ministry says this time. Which is a new argument compared with the infection figures of other countries.

The whole world on code orange: understanding, and a critical note

In the light of the Dutch lockdown it is entirely understandable that travel is being discouraged. And a negative advisory supports that. It also removes the clash between the government and Foreign Affairs.

On the other hand, the colour system was developed to say something about the situation in in other countries. Such as a rise in infections at destinations abroad.

Now the government is turning it around, runs one critical note. Other countries go to orange, literally ‘because of the serious situation in the Netherlands’.

That is ‘improper use’ of the colour codes, as it no longer says anything about the situation in another country. Sometimes less is going on there. The whole world on orange and, at the same time, the end of what the codes mean: how well thought through is that?