RKI revises travel risk list and upgrades 19 regions to high risk areas

Germany’s disease protection agency, the Robert Koch Institute, has revised its travel risk list according to new criteria. The number of countries designated “high risk” is rapidly increasing.

Germany’s travel risk list growing longer

At the beginning of August, German authorities introduced a number of reforms to testing and travel rules, including the dispensation of the “basic risk” category for countries. Since then, the Robert Koch Institute has also revised how it defines regions as “high risk” for travel, causing a shake-up of the list. 

Previously, this definition was purely based on the country’s seven-day incidence rate, but now the institute takes other factors into account, including the rate of spread of coronavirus, the number of people in hospital, the testing rate, and the proportion of positive tests.

Popular holiday destinations added to high risk list

As a result of these changes, on August 6, 2021, the RKI upgraded 19 countries and regions around the world, including some popular tourist destinations, to high-risk areas - meaning that travellers returning from these countries will be obliged to quarantine for at least five days upon arrival in Germany, unless they are fully vaccinated or recovered. 

People entering from these areas must register with the Digital Entry Portal to be allowed into the country. All unvaccinated or unrecovered arrivals in Germany must also provide proof of a negative test before being allowed to travel - no matter where they’re travelling from. 

The new regions added to the risk list are: 

• Algeria
• Bangladesh
• France (only the regions of Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Corsica and the French overseas territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy)
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Iraq
• Kazakhstan
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Myanmar
• Papua New Guinea
• Philippines
• Senegal
• Tajikistan
• Thailand
• Trinidad and Tobaga
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan

At the same time, the Netherlands has been removed from the risk list. Infections in Germany’s neighbouring country were rising rapidly in the early weeks of July, after the majority of coronavirus restrictions were lifted, but have declined again in recent weeks. 

The full risk list now includes at least 60 countries and regions worldwide.