The German government has declared Turkey a high-risk area since Tuesday and the US since Sunday. In addition, Israel has joined the list.
Turkey a high-risk area
Due to increasing numbers of coronavirus infections, the federal government has classified Turkey as a high-risk area. Starting Tuesday, travelers from the popular vacation spot who have not been vaccinated or recovered will have to spend five to 10 days in quarantine, according to the Robert Koch Institute.
The number of coronavirus cases in Turkey rose sharply in late July, to more than 20,000 new cases recorded each day. For comparison: in Germany, with a similar population size, some 5578 new cases were recorded on Friday.
Tourism is an important source of income for the country. It fell by about 70 percent last year. Most tourists come to Turkey from Russia, followed by Germany. In addition to the coronavirus, devastating forest fires in the southwest are also causing problems for the economy.
US and Israel also become high-risk areas
The US, Israel, Kenya, Montenegro, Vietnam and two French overseas territories are also classified as high-risk areas as of Sunday. Portugal, on the other hand, will be removed from the risk list, except for the Algarve coastal region and the capital Lisbon, which are particularly popular with tourists.
Nearly 70 countries are high-risk areas
With the new classifications, almost 70 countries will count the list of high-risk areas. Unlike in the past, however, not only the number of infections is decisive for the classification. Other criteria include the speed at which the virus spreads, the burden on the country’s health care system and even the lack of data on the coronavirus situation.
People who are fully vaccinated or so-called recovered patients who return from high-risk areas are exempt from quarantine in Germany. Everyone else must isolate themselves upon arrival in Germany and can only be released after five days with a negative test result.
A complete list of countries classified by Germany as risk areas can be found on the Robert Koch Institute website: www.rki.de.
source: www.tagesschau.de