Germany lifted a travel ban on Monday for visitors from India, the United Kingdom, and three other countries where the delta variant of coronavirus was discovered in Covid-19 patient samples. In fact, the variant is the most common in the UK, thwarting the government of Boris Johnson’s plan to open up the country.
India, Nepal, Russia, Portugal, and the United Kingdom have been downgraded from “areas of variant concern” to “high-incidence areas,” according to the Robert Koch Institute, a German federal government agency responsible for disease control and prevention. Travelers who are not German residents or citizens would be able to enter the country more easily as a result of this.
Only German citizens are allowed to enter the country from a different country, and they must undergo a two-week quarantine regardless of their vaccination status. Anyone from these countries can enter Germany under the “high-incidence areas” status if they produce a negative test upon arrival and are quarantined for 10 days.
If they test negative for Covid-19, the quarantine period can be reduced to five days. The new rules will go into effect on Wednesday.
Travellers who have been fully vaccinated and come from high-incidence areas are also exempt from quarantine.
Last week, German health minister Jens Spahn said the federal government would look into the situation (of allowing travellers from delta variant-affected countries) “in the coming days.”
The easing of restrictions is due to the discovery of vaccines that are effective against the delta variant, which was first discovered in India.
“We think that in the foreseeable future, those who have received double jabs will… be able to travel again, without having to go into quarantine,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said on Friday.
Last month, Dubai relaxed visa requirements for Indian visitors who had two doses of the UAE-approved Covid-19 vaccine. Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik V, and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines have all been approved by the country.
Passengers from India must undergo a rapid PCR test four hours before their flight to Dubai. On arrival in Dubai, they must also undergo another PCR test. Passengers from India should report to an institution for quarantine until they receive their PCR test results, which should arrive within 24 hours.
