Germany To Lift Several Travel Restrictions From June 1
Starting on June 1, Germany will put an end to several of its travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19, the German Health Minister, Karl Lauterbach, has announced.
“Until the end of August, we will suspend the 3G rule on entry,” he told the Funke Mediengruppe newspaper.
The 3G rule requires travellers to present a valid vaccination, recovery, or test certificate in order to enter the country. This rule will be lifted, at least for the summer season, while the number of COVID-19 infections in the country has reduced significantly, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
However, arrivals from the so-called “virus variant areas” will remain subject to travel restrictions, such as entering a 14-day quarantine on arrival, regardless of vaccination status. Currently, no countries are considered as a virus variant area in the German list.
“When such areas are defined, people entering the country have to go into quarantine. Even with lower incidences in the summer, we must remain cautious in the event of a global pandemic,” the Health Minister said.
As the German media reports, the amendment to the COVID entry regulations will be voted by the federal cabinet today. In addition, during today’s gathering, the future of all vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) will be decided as currently, only those approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are accepted for entry into the country.
At present, only those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are permitted to enter Germany, while unvaccinated arrivals cannot enter the country unless they are travelling for essential reasons.
Germany, on the other hand, is one of the most vaccinated countries in Europe, as 77.6 per cent of the population has received at least the first dose of the anti-COVID vaccine while 77.5 per cent have finished the primary course of vaccinations. In addition, 59.5 per cent of the population has received a third dose.
As per COVID-19 cases, Germany has registered a total of 256,374 of those during the last seven days, taking the total of infection cases in the country to over 26 million since the pandemic outbreak. Moreover, about 138,485 deaths have been registered in the country in the same time, with 57 of those being reported in the recent week.