The German Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, has announced plans to remove the requirement for unvaccinated children arriving from high-risk countries to quarantine on arrival.

According to Germany-visa.org, the planned easing of entry rules is due to the Omicron variant no longer posing a threat to the nation’s overall public health.

Germany currently requires children under the age of 12, who are neither vaccinated nor recovered from COVID-19, coming from a high-risk country (such as South Africa) to self-isolate for 10 days on reaching Germany. The isolation period can be ended after the fifth day by showing a negative COVID-19 test result – either PCR or rapid antigen.

However, children under the age of six can currently end the isolation period after five days automatically without any testing.

Germany has not yet made any announcements on possible changes in regulation for unvaccinated adult travellers, nor specified a date for the relaxation in entry requirements for unvaccinated children.

Until the new rules come into force, vaccinated adults from high-risk nations arriving in Germany with unvaccinated children will still have to facilitate the isolation of their children, complicating travel arrangements for families visiting Germany.