Germany has once again extended its list of high-risk travel destinations due to a spike in Coronavirus (COVID-19) infections.
The list, updated on Friday by the Robert Koch health monitoring institute, now includes neighbouring Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, and the Austrian Tyrol region, a favourite destination for German holidaymakers.
The update came just two days after many regions in France and 10 other European countries were added to the “red list.”
Germany’s Foreign Ministry has warned against non-essential travel to the new red zones, where new COVID-19 infections have exceeded 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. Anyone travelling back from such areas will need to undergo a test and go into quarantine pending the results.
In recent weeks, the German authorities have repeatedly warned of a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. About 15 European Union countries are now on Bonn’s restricted-travel list. In some cases, such as Spain, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic, the entire country is coded red, while in others, only some zones are listed.
Germany is viewed as a European model for its handling of the Coronavirus, but it has not been spared a new surge in COVID-19 infections, blamed in part on the return of vacationers.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, the country registered 2,153 new infections in the 24-hour period ending on Friday.
Health Minister Jens Spahn on Friday urged Germans to spend the All Saints holiday in October in Germany rather than travel abroad.
The Brussels Times
