Germany’s public health institute said on Monday the uk , India, Nepal, Portugal and Russia were not “areas of variant concern”, reducing travel restrictions for people coming back from those countries.
All five countries had been downgraded to “high incidence areas”, the Koch Institute said, meaning their citizens can now visit Germany and quarantine on arrival for 10 days.
The quarantine period are often shortened to 5 days if they test negative for COVID-19, and other people who are fully vaccinated can avoid quarantine altogether.
Prior to the change in classification, travelers from the four countries were banned from entering Germany unless they were residents, during which case that they had to quarantine for 14 days on arrival.
The decisions, effective from Wednesday, come after Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday Britons who have had two COVID-19 vaccinations would soon be ready to visit Germany without going into quarantine on arrival.
Earlier on Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson began plans to finish social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England in two weeks’ time, a test of whether a rapid vaccine rollout offers enough protection from the highly contagious Delta variant.
