[Story updated on 6 July with new entry rules]
Travellers from the UK, Portugal, Russia, India and Nepal who enter Germany from 7 July will no longer be required to quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated. The change has come about from a reclassification of the countries from "areas of variants of concern" to a "high-incidence area" by the country's Robert Koch Institute.
The change came after German Chancellor
Angela Merkel said over the weekend that UK travellers who have been fully vaccinated would be allowed to enter Germany without quarantine “in the foreseeable future”.
Speaking at
a press conference following a meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson,
Merkel said, “We think that in the foreseeable future those who have had double
jabs…will be able to travel again without having to go into quarantine. We would
like to encourage people to be vaccinated. In the beginning we didn’t have much
experience with this variant but we are dealing with it. This variant is spreading
in Germany too.”
She added, “But
it is not only Germany that imposes travel restrictions. The United Kingdom too
has done quite a lot to protect its own citizens. It is a continuous learning process.
We have to adjust it time and again to address the most recent developments.”
Merkel’s visit
to the UK was her last official trip to the country before stepping down as
Germany’s leader in December after 16 years.