From Tuesday, travelers from the popular holiday country who have not been vaccinated or recovered will have to be in quarantine for five to ten days, as the Robert Koch Institute announced on Friday.
The USA, Israel, Kenya, Montenegro, Vietnam and two French overseas territories will also be classified as high-risk areas on Sunday. Portugal, on the other hand, is removed from the risk list, with the exception of the Algarve, which is particularly popular with tourists, and the capital Lisbon.
Fully vaccinated and recovered travelers from high-risk areas are exempt from the quarantine obligation. All others have to isolate themselves after entering the country and can only get rid of it after five days with a negative test.
Countries and regions with a particularly high risk of infection are classified as high-risk areas. Unlike in the past, it is not just the infection numbers that are decisive. Other criteria are the speed at which the virus is spreading, the burden on the health system in a country or a lack of data on the corona situation.
With the new classifications, there will be almost 70 countries that are classified, in whole or in part, as high-risk areas. Even now, with Spain, southern France and Cyprus, popular holiday areas for Germans are among them. Another top holiday destination is now being added with Turkey.
The number of corona cases in Turkey rose rapidly at the end of July, and currently well over 20,000 new cases are officially registered every day. In July there were still around 7,000 per day. For comparison: In Germany, around 5578 new cases were reported on Friday – with a similar population. At the beginning of July, Turkey eased corona measures significantly: For example, no-night exit bans during the week and at the weekend were lifted, the catering trade reopened, weddings and similar celebrations are allowed again.
Tourism is an important source of income in the country. Last year tourism collapsed by around 70 percent. In the first quarter of this year, revenues were about 40 percent lower than in the same period last year. Most tourists travel to Turkey from Russia, followed by people from Germany. In addition to Corona, the devastating forest fires in the south-west of the country are also causing problems for the industry.