Almost entirety of Austria and Italy now considered by Germany as 'risk areas'
An updated list of travel “risk areas” published by the Robert Koch Institute on Friday has put almost the entirety of Austria and Italy on the list. In the EU, only Estonia now has no regions which are considered high risk.
The RKI has declared Austria, with the exception of two small exclaves, and almost all of Italy to be corona risk areas from this Sunday because of their sharply rising infection rates.
In Austria, Carinthia was previously the only federal state excluded from the RKI’s list.
Now there are only two exemptions for Kleinwalsertal and the municipality of Jungholz, with a total of 5,000 inhabitants. Both are exclaves which can only be reached by road from Germany.
In Italy, Calabria in the south of the country is now the only region that is not a risk area.
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Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Cyprus have now been put on the list as entirely high risk.
For the first time, regions in Greece and Latvia have been classified as risk areas. More regions have been added in Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and Lithuania. The small states of Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican are now also risk areas.
The classification as a risk area and the automatically associated travel warnings by the Foreign Office are not a travel ban, but are meant to provide the greatest possible deterrent to tourists.
The good news for tourists is that they can cancel trips that have already been booked if their destination is declared a risk area. The bad news is that returnees from the risk areas must go into quarantine for 14 days, although a negative test can end the quarantine.
A country or region is classified as a risk area if it exceeds the threshold of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days. Large parts of Germany are also risk areas according to this criteria.
In Portugal, the Centro region has been added to the list. The entire southern half of Portugal including the Algarve - a popular vacation destination remains "risk-free."
In Estonia, the Jogeva region has been removed from the risk list, making Estonia the only country in the EU without a risk area from Sunday.
Of the other 25 EU countries, 17 will then be completely classified as risk areas and eight as partial risk zones.
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The RKI has declared Austria, with the exception of two small exclaves, and almost all of Italy to be corona risk areas from this Sunday because of their sharply rising infection rates.
In Austria, Carinthia was previously the only federal state excluded from the RKI’s list.
Now there are only two exemptions for Kleinwalsertal and the municipality of Jungholz, with a total of 5,000 inhabitants. Both are exclaves which can only be reached by road from Germany.
In Italy, Calabria in the south of the country is now the only region that is not a risk area.
MUST READ: German police probe arson attack on RKI as Covid-19 tensions mount
Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Cyprus have now been put on the list as entirely high risk.
For the first time, regions in Greece and Latvia have been classified as risk areas. More regions have been added in Denmark, Portugal, Sweden and Lithuania. The small states of Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican are now also risk areas.
The classification as a risk area and the automatically associated travel warnings by the Foreign Office are not a travel ban, but are meant to provide the greatest possible deterrent to tourists.
The good news for tourists is that they can cancel trips that have already been booked if their destination is declared a risk area. The bad news is that returnees from the risk areas must go into quarantine for 14 days, although a negative test can end the quarantine.
A country or region is classified as a risk area if it exceeds the threshold of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days. Large parts of Germany are also risk areas according to this criteria.
In Portugal, the Centro region has been added to the list. The entire southern half of Portugal including the Algarve - a popular vacation destination remains "risk-free."
In Estonia, the Jogeva region has been removed from the risk list, making Estonia the only country in the EU without a risk area from Sunday.
Of the other 25 EU countries, 17 will then be completely classified as risk areas and eight as partial risk zones.
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