Germany: Authorities add regions of Romania and Bulgaria to list of COVID-19 risk areas August 6 /update 38

Event

German authorities added regions of Romania and Bulgaria to its list of risk areas on Friday night, August 6, due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The country's foreign ministry advised against travel to Romania's Arges, Buzau, Bihor, Neamt, Mehedinti, Ialomita and Timis regions, and Bulgaria's Blagoevgrad, Varna, and Dobritsch regions. Due to the new advisory, travelers arriving from these locations will undergo a mandatory COVID-19 test upon arrival in Germany and, if tested positive for the virus, will be ordered to quarantine for 14 days.

Starting Saturday, August 8, all arrivals into Germany from areas deemed high-risk for COVID-19, or who have visited these areas in the past 14 days, will have to undergo a mandatory COVID-19 test upon entering the country. Those who can produce a negative test certificate less than two days old will be exempt from doing a test. Tests will take place at all major German airports and overland travelers will be required to go to a testing center if there is not one at their point of arrival. Tests have been encouraged for all travelers arriving in Germany since July, not just those from high-risk areas. Arrivals from high-risk areas are still required to quarantine for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result. Over 100 countries or regions of countries are included on the high-risk list, which is constantly updated with countries and regions being added upon rises in infection rates. The full list can be viewed here.

As of August 8, there have been 216,903 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Germany with 9,201 associated fatalities. Further international spread of the virus is to be expected in the near term.

Context

The first case of COVID-19 was reported on December 31 and the source of the outbreak has been linked to a wet market in Wuhan (Hubei province, China). Since then, human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed.

Cases of the virus have been confirmed in numerous countries and territories worldwide. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the global outbreak a pandemic. Virus-screening and quarantining measures are being implemented at airports worldwide, as well as extensive travel restrictions.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Some patients may experience other symptoms such as body pains, nasal congestion, headache, conjunctivitis, sore throat, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell or a rash on skin or discoloration of fingers or toes. These symptoms (in most cases mild) appear gradually. Generally, most patients (around 80 percent) recover from the disease without being hospitalized.

Advice

Measures adopted by local authorities evolve quickly and are usually effective immediately. Depending on the evolution of the outbreak in other countries, authorities are likely to modify, at very short notice, the list of countries whose travelers are subject to border control measures or entry restrictions upon their arrival to the territory in question. It is advised to postpone nonessential travel due to the risk that travelers may be refused entry or be subject to quarantine upon their arrival or during their stay.

To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, travelers are advised to abide by the following measures: