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Thursday 15 October 2020
As of Saturday, all neighboring German countries are considered risk zones. The federal government includes other regions of 15 countries on the red list, including particularly popular holiday destinations for Germans.
The federal government has declared the whole of the Netherlands, almost all of France and, for the first time, the regions of Italy and Poland as corona risk zones starting next Saturday. Additionally, Malta and Slovakia will be included in the risk list, as well as individual regions in nine other EU countries, as announced by the Robert Koch Institute on its website. These include eight regions in Switzerland, including the canton of Zurich bordering Germany, areas in Sweden and Finland for the first time, and other regions in Great Britain, Ireland, Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia and Hungary.
The Federal Foreign Office is expected to issue a travel advisory for all new risk areas. With the addition of five Polish regions, including the metropolises of Gdansk and Krakow, to the risk list, none of Germany’s nine neighboring countries will no longer have risk areas as of Saturday. However, the Polish border areas are still safe.
Mainland France affected
In France, Corsica and the Grand Est border area, which was particularly affected at the beginning of the pandemic, are included in the risk list. This will completely affect the European part of the country. Of the five overseas departments, only the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean will be “risk-free” as of Saturday. In the Netherlands, Zeeland in the North Sea is the latest province to become a risk zone.
Italy, the second most popular holiday destination for Germans after Spain, is now, at least partially, on the risk list. With Liguria and Campania there are two very popular tourist destinations: Southern Italy’s Campania with Naples, the Amalfi Coast and the islands of Capri and Ischia, as well as the northwestern coastal region of Liguria around Genoa.
The classification as a risk zone occurs when a country or region exceeds the limit of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days. This now applies in full to around 130 countries and partially to more than a dozen. Travel to 40 other countries is not recommended, regardless of infection status. The reason: there are still entry restrictions, quarantine rules or a ban on leaving the EU.
The designation of the risk zone and associated travel advisories do not automatically mean a travel ban, but should have the greatest possible deterrent effect on tourists. The good news for vacationers: they can cancel a trip that has already been booked if their destination is declared a risk zone. The bad: Returnees from risk areas currently have to be quarantined for 14 days, but they can be released prematurely with a negative test. Quarantine rules should not be changed until November 8. Then a 10-day quarantine is applied, and you can only be “released” from it on the fifth day after your return.
