Covid-19

COVID-19 Country Response

COVID-19 epidemic evolution

To find out about the latest status of the COVID-19 pandemic evolution and the most up-to-date statistics on the COVID-19 disease in Albania, please visit official portal Coronavirus.al (in Albanian), which also provides information about the geographical distribution of the epidemic in the country. Daily reports on the situation can be found on the website of the Prime Minister of Albania.
For the international outlook you can consult the latest situation reports published by the World Health Organisation as well as the global daily statistics on the coronavirus pandemic evolution including data on confirmed cases and deaths by country.

Sanitary measures

To find out about the latest public health situation in Albania and the current sanitary measures in vigour, please consult the official portal Coronavirus.al (in Albanian) including the up-to-date information on the containment measures put in place and public health recommendations for citizens, businesses, public administration employees and private sector employees. The list of the legislative acts adopted to introduce the sanitary measures are available here. An overview can be found on the Deloitte website.
The state of natural catastrophe has been extended until June 23^rd.

Travel restrictions

The COVID-19 situation, including the spread of new variants, evolves rapidly and differs from country to country. All travelers need to pay close attention to the conditions at their destination before traveling. Regularly updated information for all countries with regards to Covid-19 related travel restrictions in place including entry regulations, flight bans, test requirements and quarantine is available on TravelDoc Infopage.
It is also highly recommended to consult COVID-19 Travel Regulations Map provided and updated on the daily basis by IATA.
The US government website of Centers of Disease Control and Prevention provides COVID-19 Travel Recommendations by Destination.
The UK Foreign travel advice also provides travelling abroad advice for all countries, including the latest information on coronavirus, safety and security, entry requirements and travel warnings.

Import & export restrictions

The export of medicines and medical devices will be allowed only upon the authorization of the Minister of Health (subject to a penalty of ALL 5 million, accompanied with the suspension of the activity for 6 months in case of reiteration).
For a general overview of trade restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic, please consult the section dedicated to Albania on the International Trade Centre's COVID-19 Temporary Trade Measures webpage.

Economic recovery plan

To know about the economic measures taken by the Albanian government to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the national economy, please visit the dedicated page on the official governmental portal Coronavirus.al (in Albanian). A second economic support package has also been announced. For an English overview of such measures, refer to the website of KPMG and to the Deloitte guide.
For the general overview of the key economic policy responses to the COVID-19 outbreak (fiscal, monetary and macroeconomic) taken by the Albanian government to limit the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, please consult the section dedicated to Albania in the IMF’s Policy Tracker platform.

Support plan for businesses

For the information on the local business support scheme and taxation measures established by the Albanian government to help businesses to deal with the economic impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic on their activity, please consult the dedicated pages on the governmental portal Coronavirus.al (in Albanian). Further information can be sourced on the Deloitte guide.
For a general overview of international SME support policy responses to the COVID-19 outbreak refer to the World Bank's Map of SME-Support Measures in Response to COVID-19.

Support plan for exporters

The second set of measures taken by the Albanian government includes a sovereign guarantee of ALL 15 billion (0.9% of GDP) to provide loans for working capital for active processing exporting companies (and for the tourism sector), with the government taking charge of the interest costs.