Travel: Germany updates its covid-19 quarantine list

Germany updates its 'high-risk' travel list to include the UK, Poland, Switzerland, much of Italy and most of Austria.

Germany has updated its covid-19 quarantine list to include the UK and Northern Ireland, Poland, Switzerland, the Republic of Ireland, Liechtenstein, eight of the nine federal states in Austria, and a dozen regions of Italy.

Travellers returning from 'high-risk' regions to Germany must quarantine for 14 days, show evidence of a negative covid-19 test (taken within the last 48 hours), or take a test on arrival (and go into self-isolation until they receive the result). 

The move, announced on 22 October, comes as Germany reported more than 10,000 new daily cases for the first time.

Over the past 24 hours the country reported 11,287 new coronavirus cases - a significant rise from the previous daily record of 7,830 on Friday, 16 October.

"The overall situation has become very serious," said Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control centre told reporters, addeding that it was still possible to bring the virus under control through "systematic compliance with restrictive measures."

The Italian regions identified as high risk are Abruzzo, Bolzano-Alto Adige, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Lombardia, Piemonte, Sardinia, Tuscany, Umbria, Val d'Aosta and Veneto.

The new travel measures take effect from Saturday 24 October.

Photo credit: Philipp Salveter / Shutterstock.com.