Germany has added the United States to its “high-risk” region list and will soon tighten immigration restrictions for unvaccinated travelers who have recently stayed in the United States.
Starting Sunday, travelers who have recently spent in the United States must be fully vaccinated or show “important reasons” for entry. Those who have not been vaccinated or who are unable to show evidence of recovery should be self-quarantined on arrival for 10 days. The quarantine period is proof that the COVID-19 test is negative and may end on the 5th day.
Previously, unvaccinated travelers had to test negative for coronavirus in order to enter Germany.
This change will occur when the United States faces the fourth wave of COVID-19. This is caused by the highly contagious delta variant. Last week, the country reported more than 900,000 new COVID cases in which nearly 52% of the population was vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University and medical data.
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Israel, Turkey, Vietnam and other countries have also been added to Germany’s high risk list and added to destinations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, India and Mexico.
Germany has been open to tourists from the United States since June 20, shortly after the European Union added the United States to its list of countries. The recommendations are non-binding and each country within the block can implement its own travel restrictions.
The EU has not yet removed the United States from its safe travel list, even though the United States maintains travel bans in most European countries. Restrictions on the Schengen area of Europe were first enforced in March 2020, preventing most people from traveling to the United States from:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Monaco
- San Marino
- Vatican City
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged President Joe Biden to ban travel at a meeting last month. Biden said his team was considering travel restrictions at the time, but no changes were made.
“The administration certainly understands the importance of traveling abroad,” Jeff Seiens, coordinator of the White House’s COVID-19 response team, said at a press conference last week. “With the proliferation of (but) delta variants, the United States will retain existing travel restrictions at this point.”
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Follow USA TODAY reporter Bailey Schulz on Twitter. @bailey_schulz..
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