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Travellers from 35 more world countries will be subject to stricter entry restrictions when travelling to Germany, starting from Sunday, January 16, as these countries have been added to the high-risk list.

Reporting on the COVID-19 situation abroad, on Friday, January 14, the German agency for disease prevention and control, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), has added the following 35 countries to the high-risk list:

1. Albania
2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Equatorial Guinea
4. Benin
5. Bosnia and Herzegovina
6. Bulgaria
7. Burkina Faso
8. Costa Rica
9. The Dominican Republic
10. Djibouti
11. Eritrea
12. France – the French overseas territory of St. Pierre and Miquelon
13. The Gambia
14. Guinea-Bissau
15. Guyana
16. Colombia
17. Latvia
18. Liberia
19. Madagascar
20. The Netherlands – the overseas part of the Kingdom of St. Martin’s Netherlands
21. Niger
22. Northern Macedonia
23. Austria – with the exception of the communities of Mittelberg and Jungholz and the Riss Valley in the community of Vomp and Eben am Achensee
24. Peru
25. The Philippines
26. Saint Kitts and Nevis
27. Lucia
28. Vincent and the Grenadines
29. Sao Tome and Principe
30. Senegal
31. Serbia
32. Somalia
33. Suriname
34. Chad
35. The Central African Republic

Only last week, a total of 39 world countries had been added to Germany’s list of high-risk areas, amongst which Australia, Estonia, Iceland, Sweden, Rwanda, and the United Arab Emirates.

Travellers from countries from areas categorized as high-risk are subject to additional travel restrictions. According to the RKI, everyone is obliged to register at einreiseanmeldung.de and carry the confirmation with them when entering Germany.

“The confirmation will be checked by the carrier and may also be checked by the Federal Police within the framework of its responsibilities as a border control agency,” the agency explains.

At the same time, all travellers from high-risk areas aged six or over must present a negative test  result or proof of vaccination or recovery in order to be eligible to enter the country.

“Travellers who spent time in a risk area must make their way directly to their home upon arrival and remain isolated there for a period of ten days (home quarantine),” the RKI also notes while explaining that quarantine can be ended once the travellers update their proof of vaccination or recovery at einreiseanmeldung.de. If the proof is uploaded before reaching Germany, no quarantine is needed.

However, those entering Germany on the basis of a COVID-19 test cannot end quarantine earlier than on the fifth day of isolation, when they should test again. They can only leave quarantine after the negative test results are out and updated at einreiseanmeldung.de.

The expansion of the COVID-19 high-risk list has happened due to the widespread of the Omicron virus variant. As a more transmissible variant, Omicron has caused the number of COVID-19 cases to spike up worldwide.

Data by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that Germany alone has recorded 381,568 new COVID-19 cases in the last seven days. The number of new COVID-19 cases reported within the same period worldwide is 18,493,799.