70 percent of passengers on the Italy-India flight tested positive +++ From January 9th: Israel will allow entry again +++ Great Britain and southern Africa are no longer considered virus variant areas +++ The most important travel news about the corona virus in the star-Ticker.
The global spread of the coronavirus variants and government measures such as border closures restrict personal mobility and thus travel. Here you will regularly find the latest reports on the subject of the corona crisis and travel.
News of Friday January 14, 2022
+++ Cruises: On board Tui-Cruises ships only with booster vaccination +++
After Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Tui Cruises is also tightening the vaccination requirements for passengers. From February 23, 2022, the mandatory vaccination protection will be standardized “All guests from the age of 12 need a complete vaccination protection. In addition, all guests from the age of 18 whose basic immunization was more than three months before the end of the cruise need a booster vaccination”, announced the Hamburg-based shipping company.
The new regulation applies to the entire Mein Schiff fleet, both for all guests and for all crew members. More info atwww.meinschiff.com/leinen-los/logbuch/covid-19-test
News of Wednesday January 12, 2022
+++ Germany tourism below the level of the Corona crisis year 2020 +++
The restrictions to combat the corona pandemic have hit Germany tourism hard for the second year in a row. Despite a significant increase in the number of overnight stays in November, the balance sheet for the first eleven months of 2021 was worse than in the same period of the Corona crisis year 2020.
From January to November 2021, hotels, guesthouses, campsites and the like booked a total of 293 million overnight stays, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden on Wednesday. That was 0.9 percent less than in the same period last year. Because of the pandemic, some federal states had bans on overnight stays for private travelers until June 2021. In the first half of 2020, on the other hand, only about two months – mid-March to mid-May – were affected by such bans.
In November, accommodation providers recorded a significant increase with 24.6 million overnight stays by guests from Germany and abroad. That was 165.5 percent more than in November 2020, when there was a ban on overnight stays for private travelers. Compared to November of the pre-crisis year 2019, overnight stays were 24.2 percent lower.
News of Friday January 7th, 2022
+++ Dozens of countries become corona high-risk areas – including Sweden and the UAE +++
The federal government has classified neighboring Luxembourg and almost 40 other countries as high-risk areas in whole or in part from Sunday due to the high number of corona infections. This was announced by the Robert Koch Institute on Friday. Anyone entering the country from such an area and who is not fully vaccinated or has not recovered must be in quarantine for ten days and can only free themselves from this five days after entry with a negative test at the earliest.
In addition to Luxembourg, Sweden, Australia, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates with the winter holiday destination Dubai, Israel and Kenya will be put on the risk list on Sunday. All in all, the number of high-risk areas worldwide increases to more than 100 countries in one fell swoop. This means that about every second country in the world is a high-risk area again. Ukraine is the only country to be removed from the list. Of Germany’s neighboring countries, only Austria is no longer a high-risk area as of Sunday.
In France, which has already been considered a high-risk area, there are also the overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy – as well as the Dutch overseas territories of Aruba and Curaçao. Angola, Bahrain, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Cabo Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Estonia, Fiji, Iceland, Jamaica, Qatar, Kuwait, Panama, Uruguay, the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), and Gabon will also be considered high-risk areas in the future , Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, the Comoros Archipelago, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo and Uganda, Zambia.
+++ 70 percent of the passengers on the Italy-India flight tested positive +++
After a flight from Italy to India, 70 percent of the passengers tested positive for the corona virus. Before departure from Milan, passengers had to present a negative test in order to be allowed to enter India. After Euroatlantic Airways Flight 661 landed on Wednesday afternoon, all 160 adults out of the 179 passengers were tested again, Indian media reported, citing officials and the airport boss in Amritsar. After that, 125 people tested positive and were sent to institutional quarantine, according to television station NDTV.
After the violent and deadly corona wave almost a year ago, the number of infections in India was low for months. Now they have been rising again for some time. In the country with more than 1.3 billion inhabitants, almost 91,000 new infections were recorded on Thursday. The day before it was 58,000. However, there should be a certain number of unreported cases in the number of infections.
News of Tuesday January 4th, 2022
+++ From January 9th: Israel will allow entry again – under certain conditions +++
After Germany was officially removed from the list of red countries, those who have been vaccinated and recovered will be able to return to Israel from January 9, 2022. According to a decision by the Israeli government, the country will open its borders again to individual tourism from January 9th. All vaccinated and recovered persons are allowed to enter under certain conditions.
Fully vaccinated is anyone who can demonstrate complete immunization with a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). If the last vaccination was given more than 180 days before entry, the third booster vaccination is required. The vaccination must also have been administered at least 14 days before entry. The digital Covid vaccination certificate from the EU is valid as proof of vaccination for travelers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Digital proof of a positive NAAT test is required for entry into Israel for those who have recovered from Covid, as well as proof of at least one dose of a vaccine approved by the WHO.
Before entering the country, a PCR or rapid test is required in addition to the vaccination. The swab may be taken no more than 72 hours or 24 hours before entry. Travelers must fill out a health declaration online 48 hours before departure – the so-called “Entry Statement”. Entry can only be made through Ben Gurion Airport.
Further information: https://new.goisrael.com/de
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+++ Great Britain and southern Africa are no longer considered virus variant areas +++
In view of the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant in Germany, the federal government removed Great Britain, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Eswatini and Lesotho from the list of virus variant areas from Tuesday. The nine states are then listed as high-risk areas.
This makes it much easier for people with a full corona vaccination to enter the country from these countries. The 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, you can “test yourself” with a negative test result. The quarantine obligation does not apply to vaccinated and recovered travelers.
News of Saturday January 1st, 2022
+++ Corona cases on the cruise ship: the “Aida Nova” stay in Lisbon is extended +++
Unplanned New Year’s Eve in Lisbon: Due to corona cases among the crew, the cruise ship “Aida Nova” in the port of the Portuguese city will be delayed until the new year. The positive cases were discovered early on in routine tests and those affected were housed ashore in coordination with the authorities in Lisbon, according to Aida Cruises in Rostock. They only have mild symptoms and are being treated medically. “RTL online” had previously reported about it.
According to the company, it was not yet clear when the ship would continue its journey to the Canary Islands. They are awaiting the arrival of important crew members and are examining various travel options. According to the information, cruise guests are allowed to leave the ship without restrictions. The company pointed out that all passengers over the age of 12 and crew are vaccinated and must have both an antigen and a PCR test before boarding.