Berlin, March 2 (BUS): Germany is removing all countries currently on the list of “high risk areas” as part of a rethinking of coronavirus travel rules that will come into effect on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
From now on, Germany’s list will include only places where high infection rates are associated with more virulent COVID-19 variants of the currently prevalent omicron variant, which in many cases leads to relatively mild disease, the country’s center for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute, said.
This change will clear the current list of “high risk areas,” which contains dozens of countries and territories, as of Thursday. Germany will still require people to show evidence of vaccination, a recent recovery or a negative test to enter the country, health ministry spokesman Andreas Defner said Wednesday.
People arriving from “high-risk areas” who have not recently recovered or been fully vaccinated are required to self-isolate for 10 days, which can be reduced to five with a negative test. Everyone arriving from these areas must register online prior to arrival.
For countries that ended up on the list, quarantine requirements for those under 12 – who would be able to avoid self-isolation with a negative test – would be relaxed and dropped for children under 6 years old.
Germany’s coronavirus infection rate is slowly declining after the omicron infection wave peaked last month. Chancellor Olaf Schultz and the 16 state governors approved in mid-February a three-step plan to end most restrictions by March 20.
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