Status: December 30, 2021 8:10 p.m.
Due to the spread of the Omikron variant, the travel regulations for numerous countries are changing. As of Tuesday, no country is expected to be considered a virus variant area. The list of high-risk areas is getting longer again.
As of Tuesday, no country is expected to be designated as a virus variant area. As announced by the Robert Koch Institute, the nine countries classified in this way will “probably” only be listed as high-risk areas from then on. This would mean significant relief for travelers.
Virus variant areas have so far been Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland including the Isle of Man as well as all Channel Islands and all British overseas territories. From Tuesday, January 4th, these should only be considered high-risk areas.
Omikron is also becoming more and more popular in Germany
The category of virus variant areas should not be abolished, but there is no longer any reason for Omikron to classify other countries in this way, after the variant is also spreading more and more in Germany, according to the AFP news agency from government circles. In the case of new, worrying variants that have not yet arrived in Germany, virus variant areas could again be designated in the future.
The proportion of the Omikron variant in the corona infections detected in Germany is currently increasing rapidly. How out the weekly report of the RKI According to reporting data from the federal states, 17.5 percent of the corona evidence examined for variants was due to Omikron in calendar week 51 (until December 26th). A week earlier, the value was given as 3.1 percent.
Italy and Canada are becoming high risk areas
The list of high-risk areas changes already for New Year. As of January 1st, the Federal Foreign Office has identified Italy, Canada, Malta and San Marino as high-risk areas. On the other hand, Mauritius is deleted from the list.
In Italy, the number of corona infections had skyrocketed in the past few days. The Ministry of Health reported almost 127,000 corona cases. The country thus achieved a record value again after the around 98,000 registered corona cases on Wednesday. In Canada, too, the number of infections is currently increasing rapidly. According to the Johns Hopkins University, the country hit a new high on Wednesday with 79,531 new infections.
Many travel countries on the list
The federal government has now re-classified dozen of states as high-risk areas. Since last Saturday, the holiday countries Spain and Portugal as well as the USA have again been in this category. Popular travel destinations such as Turkey, Greece, Croatia and Cyprus are also on the list. In addition, the neighboring countries Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic are designated as high-risk areas.
Countries and regions with a particularly high risk of infection are classified as high-risk areas. But it is not just the infection numbers that are decisive. Other criteria are the speed at which the virus is spreading, the burden on the health system or a lack of data on the corona situation. A complete You can find a list of risk areas here.
Differences in entry restrictions
The changes mainly have consequences for travelers. In virus variant areas, vaccinated and convalescent people are also required to undergo a 14-day quarantine, which cannot be shortened. In addition, there is a general ban on transport. This does not apply to German citizens or foreigners who have their place of residence in Germany, as well as certain professional groups.
Classification as a high-risk area, on the other hand, has an impact on unvaccinated travelers in particular: They have to be in quarantine for ten days when entering Germany from a high-risk country. After five days, however, they can “test themselves” with a negative test result. There is no quarantine requirement for vaccinated and recovered travelers.