Ahead of the Easter holidays, the federal health minister wants to abolish mandatory quarantine for children after traveling to high-risk areas. Under the plan, children under the age of 12 will only have to be quarantined on their return if a dangerous mutation of a coronavirus is spreading in the country where they vacationed.
Lauterbach wants relaxation of entry regulations for children in Germany
Lauterbach told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung: “Children have had to endure a lot in this pandemic. That is why we are relaxing entry regulations at a time when the current Omicron wave has passed its zenith.”
As a result, unvaccinated children who have come from a vacation in a high-risk area should be able to simply exempt themselves in the future. This is due to a draft amendment to the entry regulation by the Federal Ministry of Health, which is expected to pass through the cabinet this Wednesday (February 23).
Until now, young travelers had to spend at least five days in quarantine if they were not fully vaccinated – even if they enjoyed excellent health!
The new regulation is due to come into effect on March 4 – before the Easter tourist season.
Fewer countries will be designated as high-risk areas in the future
The currently planned amendment to the Entry Regulation also envisages that far fewer countries will be on the list of high-risk areas.
As a result, countries will only be considered high-risk areas if the corona mutation, which is more dangerous than the omicron mutation, is prevalent.
This means that the reporting and quarantine obligation when returning to Germany will no longer apply to countries with omicron. However, all unvaccinated people will still be required to present a negative test result upon entry, even if they are returning from areas that are not considered high risk (3G).
source: Bild