Portugal, the UK and other countries will no longer be considered virus variant areas as of Wednesday. This eliminates the strict quarantine obligation, as announced by the Robert Koch Institute.
The federal government has downgraded several virus variant areas and declared them high incidence areas. As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Monday evening, Portugal, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Russia, India and Nepal will no longer be considered virus variant areas from Wednesday. There will then no longer be a strict quarantine obligation for those returning from these areas.
Portugal, Great Britain and Russia have only been considered virus variant areas since last Wednesday because of the spread of the Delta variant. This means that there are strict restrictions on returnees. Returnees must be in quarantine for 14 days, even if they have been vaccinated or have recovered. You can’t test yourself either.
The EU Commission in Brussels expressed criticism, particularly with regard to the EU country Portugal. Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) already indicated on Thursday that the classification as a virus variant area could be reversed. He justified this with the proven effectiveness of a double corona vaccination against the Delta variant.
In the meantime, the delta variant has spread in Germany anyway. Since last week, the RKI has assumed that the majority of new infections can be traced back to this mutant.
