Germany has again classified Great Britain in its list of areas at risk for the Covid-19 pandemic due to cases of the Indian variant, health authorities announced on Friday May 14, without this resulting in any additional restrictions for travelers.
Read also: London maintains its deconfinement plan despite a surge of the Indian variant
The category of countries said to be at risk, the lowest on the scale, includes those where the incidence rate is between 50 and 200 cases of infection per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days. In Great Britain, the incidence rate is less than 50 but the “
at least limited presence
” of the Indian variant on the territory justifies this classification, explains the Robert-Koch health watch institute (RKI). In England, the number of cases of the B1.617.2 variant soared from 520 last week to 1,313 this week, according to the Department of Health. Most cases are concentrated in the northwest of the territory such as the city of Bolton, and some in London.
Since Wednesday, Germany has relaxed the rules for travelers from countries classified at risk who no longer have to observe a quarantine on their arrival if they show a recent negative test, are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or are considered to be healed. Due to the clear ebb of the pandemic, Germany had removed Great Britain from its list of risk areas in mid-April, but travelers still had to test negative.
On Friday, the RKI also added Nepal to its list of areas with "
variants of concern
", the highest level of risk, which includes countries such as India, Brazil and South Africa. Strict requirements are in place for anyone entering Germany from these countries, and even those vaccinated must observe a quarantine upon arrival in order to stem the spread of strains of coronavirus deemed to be more contagious.