Germany: RKI Adds Eleven Countries to List of ‘High Risk Areas’, Removes Thirteen

On Saturday morning, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) released the third-highest number of new Corona cases the country ever registered. And the list of High Risk Areas just changed again. In the meantime, as many as 16,095 Berlin schoolkids are in quarantine with Corona infections.

Berlin, January 29th, 2022 (The Berlin Spectator) — As many as 189,166 new Corona infections were registered in the past 24 hours. Germany’s Seven Day Incidence reached 1,127.7, which is yet another record level. According to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, these high numbers were expected. At a press conference in Berlin, he stated they were a bit lower than those the RKI had projected weeks ago. The Federal Republic’s problem was that there were too many unvaccinated persons.

Avoiding Recrudescence

Compared to the United Kingdom, Germany had three times as many individuals above 60 years of age who had not been immunized against Corona, Lauterbach said. In spite of the fact that Omicron mostly caused less severe disease progressions, many unvaccinated people in this age group who got infected would end up in intensive care or even die. On the other hand, booster vaccinations would decrease the risk of dying of COVID-19 by 99 percent.

Karl Lauterbach called on everyone to get ‘boostered’. Instead of waiting for new kinds of vaccine, people needed to get their shots right now, in order to be protected, he explained. The government’s goals were to get through this wave with a minimum of severe disease progressions and deaths, and to avoid a recrudescence in the fall of this year.

890,000 New Infections

Lothar Wieler, the President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), who was part of the same press conference, stated 890,000 persons in Germany, one percent of the population, had been infected with Corona within a week. At the same time, the vaccination rate was still too low.

The RKI just revised its list of High Risk Areas in the world. Now that eleven countries and one French region were added, and thirteen were removed, most countries, 153 of them, are still on it. Travelers who enter Germany from any High Risk Areas (see list below), and individuals who visited any of them within ten days prior to their trip to Germany, need to follow strict rules:

1. Persons who come in from those countries, or who have been there, need to register on this website (safe link, explanations in fifteen languages, including English) beforehand. They will receive a confirmation which they need to bring along and show at the border.
2. They need to bring a fresh and negative Corona test result (antigen or PCR), a Corona vaccination certificate which shows they got at least two shots or proof for their status as persons who recently recovered from COVID-19.
3. They are required to upload the certificates they bring to the registration website. The confirmation they receive will contain an upload link.
4. Persons who enter Germany from ‘High Risk Areas’ generally have to go into quarantine for 10 days. This period can be shortened the moment the people affected upload test certificates with negative outcomes, vaccination certificates or documents that prove they recently recovered to the website mentioned. Doing so before arriving in Germany will get rid of the quarantine.
5. Persons who come in from ‘Virus Variant Areas’ have to go into quarantine for 14 days. In this case, there is no ‘get-out-of-quarantine-for-free card’. Except there are no ‘Virus Variant Areas’ right now. All but 31 countries in the world are ‘High Risk Areas’.

Countries Added to List of High Risk Areas (from January 30th, 2022)

Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Cuba
France’s overseas department New Caledonia
Guatemala
Iraq
Kyrgyzstan
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Singapore
Ukraine

Countries Removed from the List (from January 30th, 2022)

Angola
Burundi
Eswatini
Kenya
Lesotho
Malawi
Namibia
Rwanda
South Africa
The United Republic of Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe

All High Risk Areas

These are all 153 High Risk Areas (list includes new ones mentioned above, applies from January 30th, 2022):

• Afghanistan (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Albania (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Algeria (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Andorra (high-risk area since 19 December 2021)
• Antigua and Barbuda (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Argentina (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Australia (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Austria with the exception of the municipality of Mittelberg and Jungholz and Risstal
in the municipal area of Vomp and Eben am Achensee (high-risk area since 16
January 2022)
• Bahamas (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Bahrain (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Bangladesh (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Barbados (high-risk area since 19 September 2021)
• Belarus (high-risk area since 1 October 2021)
• Belgium (high-risk area since 21 November 2021)
• Belize (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Benin (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Bhutan (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Bolivia, Plurinational State of (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Botswana (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• Brazil (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Bulgaria (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Burkina Faso (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Cabo Verde (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Cameroon (high-risk area since 24 October 2021)
• Canada (high-risk area since 1 January 2022)
• Central African Republic (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Chad (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Chile (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Colombia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Comoros (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Congo, Democratic Republic of the (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Congo, Republic of the (high-risk area since 24 October 2021)
• Costa Rica (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Côte d’Ivoire (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Croatia (high-risk area since 24 October 2021)
• Cuba (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Cyprus (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Czech Republic (high-risk area since 14 November 2021)
• Denmark including the Faroe Islands and Greenland (high-risk area since 19
December 2021)
• Djibouti (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Dominica (high-risk area since 22 August 2021)
• Dominican Republic (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Ecuador (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Egypt (high-risk area since 24 January 2021)
• Equatorial Guinea (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Eritrea (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Estonia (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Ethiopia (high-risk area since 26 September 2021)
• Fiji (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Finland (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• France (high-risk area since 19 December 2021) and the following French overseas
departments and overseas territories:
o Guadeloupe (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Guiana (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Martinique (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Mayotte (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o New Caledonia (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
o Réunion (high-risk area since 19 December 2021)
o Saint Barthélemy (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Saint Martin (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Saint Pierre and Miquelon (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Gabon (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Gambia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Georgia (high-risk area since 25 July 2021)
• Ghana (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Greece (high-risk area since 21 November 2021)
• Grenada (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Guatemala (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Guinea (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Guinea-Bissau (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Guyana (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Haiti (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Hungary (high-risk area since 14 November 2021)
• Iceland (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• India (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Iraq (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Ireland (high-risk area since 21 November 2021)
• Israel (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Italy (high-risk area since 1 January 2022)
• Jamaica (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Japan (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Jordan (high-risk area since 5 December 2021)
• Kazakhstan (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Korea (Democratic People’s Republic) (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Kosovo (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Kuwait (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Kyrgyzstan (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Latvia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (high-risk area since 14 November 2021)
• Lebanon (high-risk area since 19 December 2021)
• Liberia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Libya (high-risk area since 18 July 2021)
• Liechtenstein (high-risk area since 5 December 2021)
• Lithuania (high-risk area since 1 October 2021)
• Luxembourg (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Madagascar (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Maldives (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Mali (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Malta (high-risk area since 1 January 2022)
• Mauritania (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Mexico (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Moldova, Republic of (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Monaco (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Mongolia (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Montenegro (high-risk area since 15 August 2021)
• Morocco (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Mozambique (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• Nepal (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Netherlands (high-risk area since 21 November 2021) and alloverseas parts of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
o Aruba (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Bonaire (high-risk area since 27 July 2021)
o Curaçao (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
o Sint Eustatius (high-risk area since 27 July 2021)
o Saba (high-risk area since 27 July 2021)
o Sint Maarten (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Niger (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Nigeria (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• North Macedonia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Norway (high-risk area since 19 December 2021)
• Oman (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Pakistan (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Palau (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Panama (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Papua New Guinea (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Paraguay (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Peru (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Philippines (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Poland (high-risk area since 5 December 2021)
• Portugal incl. the Azores and Madeira (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Qatar (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Romania (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Russian Federation (high-risk area since 7 July 2021)
• Saint Kitts and Nevis (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Saint Lucia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• San Marino (high-risk area since 1 January 2022)
• São Tomé and Príncipe (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Saudi Arabia (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Senegal (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Serbia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Seychelles (high-risk area since 14 February 2021)
• Sierra Leone (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Singapore (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• Slovakia (high-risk area since 31 October 2021)
• Slovenia (high-risk area since 26 September 2021)
• Somalia (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• South Sudan (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Spain incl. the Balearic and Canary Islands (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Sudan (high-risk area since 31 January 2021)
• Suriname (high-risk area since 16 January 2022)
• Sweden (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Switzerland (high-risk area since 5 December 2021)
• Syrian Arab Republic (high-risk area since 31 January 2021)
• Tajikistan (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Togo (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Trinidad and Tobago (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Tunisia (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Turkey (high-risk area since 17 August 2021)
• Turkmenistan (high-risk area since 8 August 2021)
• Ukraine (high-risk area since 30 January 2022)
• United Arab Emirates (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland incl. all British Overseas
Territories, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (high-risk area since 4 January 2022)
• United States of America (high-risk area since 25 December 2021)
• Uruguay (high-risk area since 9 January 2022)
• Uzbekistan (high-risk area since 23 January 2022)
• Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of (high-risk area since 19 September 2021)
• Vietnam (high-risk area since 15 August 2021)
• Yemen (high-risk area since 10 October 2021)

Children in Quarantine

In the meantime, the Omicron mutation keeps in spreading in Germany itself, including in its Corona hotspot Berlin. In the capital, 16,095 schoolkids in Berlin are in quarantine right now, according to Education Senator Astrid-Sabine Busse, some 3,000 more than last week. The total number of pupils in Berlin in 336,633. Almost five percent did not go to school, just before the winter vacations commenced yesterday.

The same applies to 1,895 infected school employees, including teachers. Exactly 4.6 percent of all school employees are in quarantine. Persons who were in contact with infected schoolkids or kindergarten children do not have to go into quarantine anymore unless they are infected themselves. At Berlin’s 827 schools, the report cards for the first semester were given out on Friday. Because of the Omicron wave, parents in Berlin are not required to send their children to school, at this stage.

Looking for the daily Corona update for Germany? Find it here.
ALL CORONA CHRONOLOGIES:
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2022 (from Dec. 22nd, 2021)
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2021
Corona Chronology for Germany, 2020

The Berlin Spectator needs your support.
There are several ways:
> You can support us via Paypal.
> You can become our patron at Patreon.
So far, we have eight patrons. We are very thankful, but we need many more supporters.
Thank you! We appreciate your support.