The German government is set to ease travel restrictions on people arriving in Germany from the UK, as well as four other countries.

Germany to ease travel restrictions

On Monday, the Robert Koch Institute published new recommendations for travellers entering the country from the UK, Portugal, Russia, India and Nepal. The new recommendations see travel restrictions eased for travellers from these countries, with the obligation to quarantine upon arriving in Germany removed for people who have either had both vaccination jabs or can prove they have recovered from COVID-19.

Anyone who has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus will still be required to self-isolate should they arrive in Germany from one of the five countries. However, quarantine for these people will only last up to ten days and anyone who tests negative for the virus after the fifth day will be allowed to stop isolating early

Before this ruling comes into place, travellers from the UK, Portugal, Russia, India and Nepal were obliged to quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they had been vaccinated or not. Furthermore, only German citizens or residents were allowed to travel to Germany from certain countries, with tourists and travellers from these countries not permitted to enter the Federal Republic.

Restrictions eased after talks with UK

The new rules, which are set to come into effect on Wednesday, come after talks between the British Prime Minister and Chancellor Angela Merkel. The move has been criticised by some, who fear that British travellers could facilitate the spread of the Delta variant, which was first discovered in India and has proven to be particularly infectious. However, now that the variant has made its way to the continent, Germany has downgraded the UK’s coronavirus status.

Chancellor Merkel hinted last week that travel restrictions would be relaxed for people coming from the UK, due to the Delta variant already spreading to Germany. “We think that in the foreseeable future those who have received double jabs will then according to our classification… be able to travel again without going into quarantine,” she said.

Since May 23, Germany designated Britain as a “virus variant area,” which is the country’s highest level for travel restrictions. However, on Wednesday, Britain will be downgraded to a “high-incidence area”. After Wednesday, eleven countries will continue to be under the “virus variant area” designation: Botswana, Brazil, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Uruguay.