The German government announced Wednesday it will lift its COVID-related travel warning for European countries on June 15 but that it will still advise against travel to some areas where quarantine rules remain in effect.
Following a Cabinet meeting in Berlin, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters that the warning would be replaced with more conventional travel advice so long as the countries concerned no longer have entry bans or large-scale confinement.
Maas said he knows the decision will be good news to many people but cautioned the decision is not an invitation to travel. “We want to make this clear in the travel warnings, which may also include that travel is strongly discouraged, for instance to Britain, so long as there is still an obligatory 14-day quarantine for everyone arriving there."
He noted warnings will stay in effect for Norway and Spain, where entry restrictions are expected to last longer, but that other countries now fulfill the conditions.
Germany issued a warning against all nonessential foreign travel in March. Maas warned, "The pandemic is far from over, and we must together prevent a resumption of tourism leading to a second wave – not only in Germany, but also elsewhere.”
Maas said that Germany may reimpose travel warnings for countries where there are more than 50 infections per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days.
He stressed again that Germany will not repeat the large-scale repatriation program that it launched to bring tourists home in March.