Germany removes Czech Republic from list of Covid-19 risk areas

Germany has officially removed the Czech Republic from its list of Covid-19 epidemic risk areas, which the country has been on since September 2020.

The Robert Koch Institute, which administers the list, announced the move on Friday and removed the Czech Republic from the list today.

As a result, those travelling from the Czech Republic to Germany will not have to go into quarantine.

Even before the move, travelers did not have to quarantine if they submitted a negative Covid-19 test or a certificate that they were vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19.

However, people who fly to Germany from the Czech Republic must still show a negative test to be let aboard a plane for the time being. A full relaxation of the travel restrictions will come after a ten-day transition period ends on June 16.

"As Germany still labeled the Czech Republic an area with the incidence of virus variants a rather short time ago, which meant a nearly complete closure of the Czech-German border, I believe that our citizens will appreciate the fact that the Czech Republic won’t be considered a risk region as of Sunday morning anymore," Czech ambassador to Germany Tomáš Kafka told CTK.

Prior to today, Czech residents could only cross the German border for up to 24 hours without requiring testing or quarantine.

Germany considers a country an epidemic risk if their Covid-19 incidence is higher than 50 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the past seven days. To be removed from the epidemic risk list, the incidence needs to be below 50 cases per 100,000 residents for a longer period of time, usually two weeks.

The Czech Republic has reported 22 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week as of today.

Germany placed the Czech Republic on the list on September 25, 2020. Later, it considered Czechia a high risk region and in February a region also at risk for coronavirus variants.

In late March, the Czech Republic returned to the high risk category, and to the risk category in May.