Entry Rules in Germany Are in Favor of Vaccinated Travelers

Germany offers more and more freedom for vaccinated and recovered individuals. For them, now also the entry rules have changed and the entry or return to the country will be easier.

For vacation returnees and other visitors to Germany, uniform Corona entry rules took effect nationwide last week. For those who have been fully vaccinated and those who have recovered this means that regulations on quarantine and testing requirements will no longer apply – unless you come from an area with new, more infectious virus variants, as Health Minister Jens Spahn said.

According to a decree approved by the federal cabinet, non-vaccinated people should also be able to avoid the previously customary quarantine of ten days after entry with a negative test. To do this, they must actively prove that they have tested negative. This can also be done by uploading proof of the test to the digital entry application. Possible are rapid tests that are not older than 48 hours or PCR tests that are not older than 72 hours.

The regulation is also intended to facilitate summer travel in Europe, the ministry explained – for example when vaccinated parents travel together with non-vaccinated children.

The German Travel Association spoke of a “signal of confidence” that would give vacationers and suppliers a positive outlook again. “This means that even those who have not yet had the opportunity to be vaccinated have the chance to travel without quarantine,” said President Norbert Fiebig. Nothing now stands in the way of a summer vacation in the Mediterranean, which so many people have been longing for, he added. However, he said, the federal government is also extending the general testing requirement for entries by air, which was introduced at the end of March.

Mr. Spahn said the ordinance establishes uniform entry rules on the requirements for the first time after there had previously been ordinances issued by the individual states. How are the countries classified for German vacationers can be seen on the website of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI)? The central factor for classification as a “risk area” is more than 50 reported new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days.

In addition, there are “high incidence areas” from the threshold of 200 as well as “virus variant areas” with new mutations. When returning from high-incidence areas, it should remain the case that the quarantine can be shortened by a negative test after five days at the earliest. Returnees from virus variant areas will still have to go into domestic quarantine for 14 days, which cannot be shortened by testing.