Corona risk areas: New regions in Germany's neighborhood affected

The number of corona infections continues to rise across Europe. The list of risk areas in Germany's neighborhood is growing accordingly.

The list of risk areas including the corresponding official travel warning in connection with the corona pandemic has been expanded considerably. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Thursday (October 22) new regions that will be affected from Saturday (October 24).

Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Poland and the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (excluding overseas territories) as well as Northern Ireland, Ireland and Gibraltar are on the list. In Austria, the federal states of Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Burgenland and Styria have now been declared risk areas. In Italy, the Aosta Valley, Umbria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto, Latium, Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Sardinia and the autonomous province of Bolzano-South Tyrol are affected.

Individual regions and provinces have been added in Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Sweden, Slovenia and Hungary. In contrast, the Canary Islands (Spain) and the Ida-Viru region in Estonia have been removed from the list. A precise overview of all regions currently classified as risk areas is available from the RKI.

Classification as a risk area

"The classification as a risk area is based on a joint analysis and decision by the Federal Ministry of Health, the Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Home Affairs", informs the RKI on its website and explains the "two-stage assessment" on which the classification is made as a risk area.

First of all, it will be determined "in which states / regions there were more than 50 newly infected people per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days". In a second step, it will then be "determined according to qualitative criteria whether there is still a" risk of an increased risk of infection "for states / regions that nominally fall below the specified limit value.

Importance for vacationers

The classification as a risk area is automatically accompanied by a travel warning – not a travel ban – from the Federal Foreign Office. Bookings can be canceled free of charge if there are warnings. Travelers returning from risk areas are obliged to undergo a corona test and to be in quarantine until the test result.

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