Corona pandemic: Great Britain is again a risk area

As of: 14.05.2021 8:37 p.m.

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Great Britain is one of the countries with the lowest number of infections – and yet it will again be considered a risk area from Sunday. The reason is the Indian virus variant, which is considered worrying.

The federal government will classify Great Britain as a corona risk area again from Sunday, despite the low number of infections. The reason is the “at least limited occurrence” of the virus variant first identified in India, as announced by the Robert Koch Institute. The variant B.1.617.2 has contributed to dramatic numbers of infections in India.

Great Britain has so far been one of the few European countries that has been completely removed from the list of risk areas due to the stable low number of infections. The seven-day incidence per 100,000 population was last 21.9. Only countries over 50 are normally classified as risk areas.

RKI: Indian variant causing concern

The RKI points out, however, that the Indian variant is now classified as worrying by the World Health Organization. “When classifying risk areas, qualitative criteria are regularly taken into account in addition to the incidence values,” writes the institute.

Twice as many people infected with the Indian variant

According to the British government, the Indian variant has so far been discovered in four dead. According to the health authority Public Health England, the number of proven cases of those infected with the variant has doubled to a good 1,300 within a week.

Great Britain has already eased the corona measures for the first time. From this Monday on, Brits and people residing in Great Britain will be able to leave the country again for holiday travel. The government has published a “green list” for this purpose, but Portugal is the only EU country on it.

Corona test upon entry

With the classification as a risk area by the federal government, a reactivation of the travel warning for Great Britain is connected. But this is only symbolic. In fact, not much will change for travelers. Anyone who comes to Germany from Great Britain by plane has previously had to show a negative corona test upon entry. Even in quarantine, travelers do not have to be in quarantine, provided they have themselves tested before entering the country.

Countries that are being downgraded

But there are also nine countries and regions that will be downgraded on the risk scale on Sunday – from high incidence to risk area: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Estonia, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian Autonomous Areas. Anyone entering from there no longer necessarily has to be in quarantine, but can instead show a negative test upon entry.

Canary Islands no longer a risk area

With the Canary Islands, another popular holiday destination for Germans has been removed from the list of risk areas. However, this no longer has any practical effects for tourists, since the quarantine obligation for holidaymakers returning from there was already dropped on Thursday when a new entry regulation came into force. The test obligation on the return flight to Germany continues to apply.

Hoteliers and restaurateurs hope for the summer

Nevertheless, hoteliers and restaurateurs on Tenerife, Gran Canaria or Fuerteventura should be happy about the deletion from the list – because of the positive signal. The waves of infection in recent months hit the tourism industry on the Atlantic islands off the west coast of Africa particularly hard, as winter is practically the main season in the region.

According to the latest figures from the Spanish tourist office Turespaña, only a good 266,000 foreign tourists landed on the islands in the first three months of the year. That is 90.3 percent less than in the first quarter of 2020, when the pandemic had already had its first negative effects. The “Canarios” are now betting on the summer.