Germany lifts ban on travellers from India, UK and Portugal

Germany on Monday lifted a ban on travellers from India, the UK and three other countries, where the delta variant of coronavirus has been found in the samples of Covid-19 patients. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said India, Nepal, Russia, Portugal and the UK, currently listed as so-called virus variant countries, would be reclassified from Wednesday as "high-incidence areas". The change eases a ban on entry for travellers who are not German residents or citizens, instead meaning anyone will be able to enter as long as they observe quarantine and testing rules.

Germany introduced its "virus variant country" travel category in a bid to stop new coronavirus variants that have not yet spread widely on home soil. The current rules in Germany allow only its citizens to enter the country from a variant nation and are subjected to two-week quarantine, regardless of their vaccination status. The "high-incidence areas" status will allow anyone from such countries to enter Germany provided they produce a negative test on arrival and quarantine on arrival for 10 days. The quarantine period can be shortened to five days if they test negative for Covid-19. Travellers from high-incidence areas are also exempt from quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated.

Chancellor Angela Merkel also hinted at a potential softening in Germany's stance towards travellers from Britain during a visit to London on Friday. Last month, Merkel had called for tough restrictions, including longer quarantine, for people travelling from Britain, where the Delta variant has caused a surge in cases. Countries where variants other than Delta are circulating, such as Brazil and South Africa, remain in the variant category. Despite the rising share of the Delta variant, the overall incidence in Germany has been steadily declining in recent weeks.