Delta variant concerns: Ban lifted, Indians can now travel to Germany

Indians can now travel to Germany after the country reduced its travel restrictions for Indians, along with some other countries. Since India is no longer an "area of variant concern", Indian citizens can now travel to Germany and quarantine on arrival for 10 days. The quarantine period can be shortened to five if they test negative for COVID-19. "If you have spent time in a high incidence area prior to entry, the relevant test may not be conducted earlier than five days after entry," the institute said on its website.

Germany's national disease control centre, the Robert Koch Institute, announced late Monday (July 5) that India along with Britain, Portugal, Russia and Nepal will be removed from the country's highest risk category of "virus variant areas" effective Wednesday (July 7). They will move into the second-highest category of "high-incidence areas." These are the countries where the delta variant of coronavirus has been found in the samples of COVID-19 patients. India and UK have been majorly hit, among others.

Officials have said the listings would be reviewed as the proportion of infections caused by the delta variant in Germany rises. Although overall case numbers are very low, more than half of new cases are now believed to be caused by delta. Eleven countries will remain on Germany's "virus variant area" list for now: Botswana, Brazil, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Uruguay.