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TRAVEL: Germany adds Switzerland and Poland to Covid ‘high-risk’ list

Germany has added five countries to its Covid high risk travel list including neighbouring Switzerland and Poland.

Published: 3 December 2021 17:05 CET
People visit the Wienachtsdorf Christmas market at Zurich's Sechseläutenplatz.
People visit the Wienachtsdorf Christmas market at Zurich's Sechseläutenplatz. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/KEYSTONE | Christian Beutler

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Friday that Poland, Switzerland, Jordan, Liechtenstein and Mauritius were being classified as high risk areas due to the worsening Covid situation. 

Unvaccinated travellers arriving in Germany from these countries will have to self-isolate for up to 10 days.

As of Sunday, December 5th, people who have stayed in those countries in the previous 10 days before arrival in Germany will face the stricter entry rules.

German authorities require that anyone who has spent time in a designated risk area (high-risk area or area of variants of concern), has to complete the Digital Registration on Entry.

The digital registration allows travellers to upload proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative Covid test before departing for Germany. 

But people who can’t submit proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid have to go straight to their destination in Germany and self-isolate there for 10 days. 

This quarantine period can be shortened with a negative test taken at the earliest five days into the isolation. Travellers will usually receive guidance from their local health authority when they arrive in Germany. 

For children under the age of 12, the self-isolation period automatically ends five days after entry – they do not need to take a test. 

Why has the risk been upgraded?

Switzerland has been seeing its highest number of Covid cases ever, and is running out of ICU beds. Poland is also seeing an uptick in cases. And only about 53.9 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. 

Many people in Germany commute into neighbouring countries, and vice versa. 

Germany is also a popular shopping destination for people living in border areas. For instance German supermarkets and retail outlets offer much cheaper prices than those available in Switzerland.

There are exemptions to travel rules for people who are spending less than 24 hours in Germany, or are cross-border commuters. 

Germany has been tightening its travel restrictions in recent weeks due to the surge in Covid infections in many countries, and the emergency of the Omicron variant. 

South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe were classified as ‘variant concern’ regions on November 28th. 

READ ALSO: Germany bans travel from South Africa over new Covid variant

Only German nationals and people with residence rights are allowed to enter Germany from these countries. They must also quarantine for 14 days upon arrival back in Germany – regardless of their vaccination status. 

They also have to show a negative Covid test before being allowed to board a flight to Germany.

Member comments

  1. Does anyone knows if I will need quarantine if I travel to Germany with connection in Poland (I will be there 2 hours )?

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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