Due to the spread of the virus variant recently discovered in India, Germany declares on Sunday (23.05) Great Britain as an area of virus variants. This was announced by the Robert Koch Institute, RKI. This strictly restricts entry from the UK to Germany. From Sunday airlines, railway undertakings or buses are only allowed to take with them persons living in Germany. A two-week quarantine is valid for travelers, which cannot be shortened even with a negative test.
Meanwhile, for France, Slovenia, Croatia, due to the reduction of the number of infections, the general quarantine obligation from 5 to 10 days has been lifted. The three EU countries from Sunday are considered normal risk zone. Slovakia, Finland, Romania, San Marino and Jamaica, as well as certain regions in Spain and Ireland, are removed from the list of endangered countries.
11 particularly endangered countries
The UK is the first country in Europe for some time to return to the area of the virus variant. Only 11 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are listed in this category. The Indian variant of the B.1.617.2 virus is considered to be particularly contagious and has been the cause of the immense outbreak of infections in India in recent months. In the UK, 3,400 cases of the virus have been reported, with Blackburn and Bolton as the epicenters.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, there is no complete data on this variant, but it is assumed that it is transmitted faster, and the vaccine has a weaker effect, said RKi president Lothar Wieler in Berlin. German Health Minister Jens Spahn expressed concern about the UK. The variant tested there should not be spread in Germany, he said. Britain has been seen in recent months as a model of success in fighting the pandemic. A strong closure of the country and the speed of vaccination lowered the infection figures, which prompted the German government to temporarily remove the UK from the list of endangered areas.
Criticism of Boris Johnson
The British government itself is optimistic that it will control the spread of this variant. Testing capacities were greatly increased in the affected areas. Meanwhile, all people over the age of 18 can be vaccinated, at a time when the age has been set at over 34 throughout the country.
There is currently criticism of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He put India on the “red list” of travel after a long hesitation. In addition, even after this categorization, there were several direct flights from India to Great Britain, according to the British media. / DW
