Germany designates US, Turkey, Israel as COVID high-risk areas

The German government has designated the United States, Turkey, and Israel as high-risk countries, triggering a minimum five-day quarantine requirement for those who are unvaccinated, the FUNKE media group reported on Friday citing government sources.

Montenegro and Vietnam are also affected by the upgrade, while Portugal has been downgraded and is no longer a high-risk area, with the exception of Lisbon and the Algarve, Funke said.

The upgrade will take effect on Sunday, except in the case of Turkey when it will come into force on Tuesday night given the large number of people in Germany with a Turkish background, Funke said, citing government sources.

Travellers from high-risk countries must go into quarantine for ten days unless they can show proof of vaccination orrecovery from COVID-19. Self-isolation can be ended after fivedays at the earliest with a negative test.