Germany strikes Spain and Lisbon from list of Covid risk areas
Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) removed the whole of Spain from its list of Covid high risk areas on Friday, as well as the Portuguese city of Lisbon.
The move means unvaccinated holidaymakers will no longer have to quarantine when they return to Germany from these regions.
Almost the entire Iberian peninsula, plus the holiday destinations of Mallorca and Ibiza is now considered low risk by the German government.
Only people who have spent time in the Algarve on Portugal's southern coast will still face quarantine rules.
After Barcelona and the surrounding region of Catalonia was taken from the list last week, the rest of Spain follows suit.
Germany had classified Spain as a high risk area on July 11th right in middle of the holiday season.
That meant that unvaccinated people returning from a holiday in the sun had to complete a 10 day quarantine. The quarantine rules do not apply to those who have been vaccinated or those who have recovered from a Coronavirus infection in the past half year.
READ ALSO: How Germany's new rules to fight Delta wave may affect your holiday plans
Daily new cases in Spain have fallen from around 25,000 in late July to slightly over 9,000 today.
Last week Spain classified the whole of Germany as a risk area. But Spain's rules are less stringent that Germany's. People arriving from a risk area need to show a negative test, or proof of vaccination or recovery.
Whereas the RKI used to evaluate the number of cases alone in deciding whether a country is a high risk area, it now considers the speed at which the virus is spreading, the strain on the health care system and whether case reporting is sufficient.
Chile has also been removed from the list of risk areas.
The Caribbean islands of Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis and St Lucia have all been added to the list, which contains some 70 countries.
SEE ALSO: Who’s affected most by Germany’s fourth Covid wave?
Meanwhile, there are no countries on Germany's highest risk 'virus variant areas of concern' list.
Germany on Sunday removed Brazil and Uruguay from this category, easing the ban on travel from these areas.
Regions are placed in this category when a concerning variant of Covid is spreading, and which is not dominant in Germany.
The RKI updates the list regularly.
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The move means unvaccinated holidaymakers will no longer have to quarantine when they return to Germany from these regions.
Almost the entire Iberian peninsula, plus the holiday destinations of Mallorca and Ibiza is now considered low risk by the German government.
Only people who have spent time in the Algarve on Portugal's southern coast will still face quarantine rules.
After Barcelona and the surrounding region of Catalonia was taken from the list last week, the rest of Spain follows suit.
Germany had classified Spain as a high risk area on July 11th right in middle of the holiday season.
That meant that unvaccinated people returning from a holiday in the sun had to complete a 10 day quarantine. The quarantine rules do not apply to those who have been vaccinated or those who have recovered from a Coronavirus infection in the past half year.
READ ALSO: How Germany's new rules to fight Delta wave may affect your holiday plans
Daily new cases in Spain have fallen from around 25,000 in late July to slightly over 9,000 today.
Last week Spain classified the whole of Germany as a risk area. But Spain's rules are less stringent that Germany's. People arriving from a risk area need to show a negative test, or proof of vaccination or recovery.
Whereas the RKI used to evaluate the number of cases alone in deciding whether a country is a high risk area, it now considers the speed at which the virus is spreading, the strain on the health care system and whether case reporting is sufficient.
Chile has also been removed from the list of risk areas.
The Caribbean islands of Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis and St Lucia have all been added to the list, which contains some 70 countries.
SEE ALSO: Who’s affected most by Germany’s fourth Covid wave?
Meanwhile, there are no countries on Germany's highest risk 'virus variant areas of concern' list.
Germany on Sunday removed Brazil and Uruguay from this category, easing the ban on travel from these areas.
Regions are placed in this category when a concerning variant of Covid is spreading, and which is not dominant in Germany.
The RKI updates the list regularly.
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