The Robert Koch Institute, a research institute subordinate to the Ministry of Health of Germany, has published new information on the designation of international high-risk areas.
The latest amendment of the list of high-risk areas came into effect on Saturday 25 December 2021 and will be revised on Monday 3 January 2022.
The new high-risk areas are Cyprus, Finland, Monaco, Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira), Spain (including the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands), and the United States of America. This is due to the high COVID-19 infection rates registered in these countries during the last week.
Other criteria are the latest COVID-19 hospitalization records, the speed of the spread of the virus, and the reliability of each country’s sanitary situation data.
After a new assessment of the data that is reliable, the following countries are no longer considered high-risk areas by the German authorities: Austria, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malaysia, and Serbia.
Germany list of areas of variants of concern
In spite of the spread of the Omicron variant around the world, there are no new areas of variants of concern in the newest Robert Koch Institute’s release.
This means that the areas of variants of concern are still Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, as established on 28 November 2021, plus the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (including British Overseas Territories, Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands), which was added to the list on 20 December 2021 due to the massive and sudden spread of Omicron.
At the time of publication of the new list of areas of variants of concern including the UK, the British territory had more than 45,000 cases of Omicron and at least 12 Omicron-related deaths. Since then, these statistics have been in crescendo, with more than 100,000 cases of Omicron, almost 700 Omicron-related hospitalizations, and more than 40 new casualties across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Germany travel restrictions to high-risk areas and areas of variants of concern
From 1 August 2021, “risk areas” encompass high-risk areas and areas of variants of concern only.
People coming from these areas have an obligation to fill a digital registration on entry. The registration leads to a confirmation that will be checked by the carriers and the Federal Police of Germany at the border controls.
Travelers must also provide proof of vaccination or recovery. People who’ve spent time in areas of variants of concern must additionally demonstrate that they’re not infected with the novel coronavirus or any of their variants with a negative PCR test upon entry to Germany.
Another difference is that people coming from high-risk areas are subject to a travel quarantine that lasts 10 full days unless they submit a negative COVID-19 diagnostic test on day 5. People coming from areas of variants of concern must isolate themselves for 14 days and have no possibility of finishing the quarantine earlier than that, even if they’re fully vaccinated.
Guidance on Required Docs