German authorities have decided to extend an entry ban on arrivals from the United Kingdom and South Africa, previously introduced amid the detection of a new COVID-19 strain in both countries.

The decision has been announced by the German Embassy in the UK, which issued a press release on the move.

“The general transport ban for travellers from the United Kingdom to Germany has been extended until January 20, 2021,” the Embassy also wrote on its official account in Twitter.

The German authorities’ decision to extend the entry ban on January 6 for another two weeks is the result of the new virus strain detected in the two countries, which the experts claim to be 70 per cent more transmissible.

 

Exempt from the entry ban remains only the following categories:

• German citizens
• EU citizens and their family members with permanent residence in Germany
• British nationals and their family members with permanent residence in Germany who are eligible under part two of the agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (2019 / C 384 I / 01) In 2020, they had a permanent residence in Germany and are therefore temporarily exempt from the requirement of a residence permit for third-country nationals)
• Third-country nationals holding a German residence permit or a long-term visa for Germany
• Those transiting Germany in their journey to reach their destination country

According to the German Embassy in the UK, travellers from both the UK and South Africa are obliged to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test taken in the last 48 hours before reaching Germany. The results of the  COVID-19 test must be in German or English.

PCR / LAMP and TMA tests, as well as antigen tests, are accepted, but the latter must meet certain quality requirements.

“The test can no longer be taken at or immediately after entry,” the Embassy points out.

In order to avoid crowds of undocumented people at the point of entry, the Federal Government has asked transport companies to only transport people who can present proof of test at the start of the journey.

Currently, Germany has entry restrictions in place for almost all world countries. On January 7, the most recent update of Germany’s list of high-risk countries and regions, the following have been ranked as highly risky:

• Denmark’s Faroe Islands
• all of continental France
• all of Ireland
• Norway’s provinces of Rogaland and Trøndelag
• all of Portugal including the autonomous region of Madeira

Only the Päijät-Häme region in Finland has been removed from the list, while the rest remains unchanged.