Germany expected to put Netherlands on coronavirus high-risk list tomorrow

The German government will likely add the Netherlands and Spain to its list of "high incidence" countries when the Robert Koch Institute issues its weekly update on international regions on Friday. That can have an impact on anyone traveling from the Netherlands to Germany, particularly those who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

The Netherlands was named a "basic risk area" by the German federal government last week when the entire country was placed at an elevated coronavirus risk level by the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. That alert was upgraded on Thursday to the highest risk level for seven of 12 Dutch provinces.

Anyone who has spent time in a high-incidence area is required to carry a copy of a recent negative coronavirus test, or proof of either being fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or proof of recovery from the disease. Those testing negative before entry must enter quarantine for up to 10 days, though that can be ended after five days with a new negative test.

Vaccinated people and those who recently recovered from Covid-19 can submit evidence using the German government's digital registration website. They can then avoid entering quarantine.

The quarantine period in Germany is 14 days when arriving from a country where the RKI is monitoring a variant of concern. Travel bans can also be implemented against countries where variants of concern exist.

A country is designated a high incidence area when it has over 200 coronavirus infections per capita, and meets other criteria. The Dutch infection rate last week was 399 per capita, according to RIVM data.

Cyprus and Portugal are the only European Union countries currently on Germany's list of 30 high incidence areas. No EU countries are considered to be an area with a variant of concern.