Germany to Remove UK & the Southern African Countries From Virus Variant Areas List on January 4

The German authorities are set to leave the list of virus variant areas empty once more, as on Thursday, December 30, the same have announced that starting from January 4, all countries in the virus variant areas list will be moved to the high-risk list.

“The list of current virus variant areas is expected to be valid up to and including Monday, January 3, 2022 (from Tuesday, January 4, 2022 at 12:00 a.m., the countries previously classified as virus variant areas will be classified as high-risk areas, changes at short notice are possible),” Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Thursday.

The RKI, which is the German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention, will thus be listing the following countries as high-risk areas, starting from next Tuesday:

1. Botswana
2. Eswatini
3. Lesotho
4. Malawi
5. Mozambique
6. Namibia
7. Zimbabwe
8. South Africa
9. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

While the eight first have been part of the virus variant areas list since November 28, the UK has been part of the same since December 20.

The change means that starting from January 4, travellers from these countries will be eligible to enter the territory of Germany, while being subject to the same restrictions as the majority of world travellers. Previously only German citizens and residents as well as some specific categories could enter Germany from virus variant areas.

Yet, travellers from these nine countries will still have to register at einreiseanmeldung.de before arriving in Germany and carry the confirmation of registration with them upon entry.

“Upon entry into the Federal Republic of Germany, individuals aged six years or older need to be in possession of proof of testing, proof of recovery or proof of vaccination. As a general rule, COVID tests (antigen tests or PCR tests) must not be older than 48 hours at the time of (planned) entry into Germany,” the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains.

Travellers from high-risk areas who fail to provide any of the proof listed above need to quarantine for a period of ten days. Those who show proof of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 can leave quarantine immediately, whereas those who test negative for COVID-19 may end quarantine upon another test conducted no earlier than on the fifth day.

Announcing the decision to leave the virus variant areas list empty, the RKI has also added Canada, Italy, Malta, and San Marino to the high-risk list. The list is set to become effective on Saturday, January 1, 2022.