Germany restrictions for the UK: Is Germany in lockdown? What are the entry requirements for travelling to Germany from the UK?

Last week, France announced that tighter travel restrictions would be put in place over the weekend from travellers coming from the United Kingdom.

Germany followed suit during the weekend, classing the UK as a risk area for the Omicron variant and stating that new travel rules would be put in place.

These measures came into affect yesterday evening, on Sunday December 19th.

Germany has classed the UK as an area of concern for the Omicron variant and introduced a new travel ban. Photo: RZ / Getty Images / Canva Pro. Fly View Productions / Getty Images / Canva Pro. Ingo Joseph / Pexels/ Canva Pro.

Here’s all you need to know about the current Covid situation in Germany and what new entry requirements are in place for people travelling to Germany from the UK.

Is Germany in lockdown?

Germany is not currently in a lockdown, but there are a number of restrictions currently in place across the country.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said he expected the Omicron variant to unleash a "massive fifth wave" of the pandemic. Photo: Ronny Hartmann / AFP.

Most of these focus on unvaccinated people, barring them from most public places.

As of December 20th, around 70% of the German population is now fully vaccinated, similar to here in Scotland.

The number of new confirmed Covid cases in Germany is lower than in the UK, with 50,968 new cases reported on Friday, December 17th.

However, the number of deaths due to Covid is rising, with 437 deaths reported on Friday alone.

Health officials fear that vital infrastructure such as hospitals, health services, and basic utilities could be disrupted.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told press that he expected Omicron to unleash a "massive fifth wave" in Germany.

Speaking to radio news on Sunday, Professor Lauterbach ruled out a lockdown before Christmas.

"There will not be a lockdown before Christmas here,” said Professor Lauterbach. “But we will get a fifth wave - we have crossed a critical number of Omicron infections."

Germany restrictions for the UK

As the UK currently has a higher number of Covid cases than Germany, the country has followed France's lead in putting fresh entry requirements in place for travellers coming from the UK.

There is now a travel ban in place against most people coming to Germany from the UK.

This will not affect German nationals and residents who are travelling from the UK.

For these people, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated, they must have a negative test and quarantine for two weeks.

The measures were announced by the Robert-Koch-Insititut (RKI) at the same time as the UK was classified as a virus variant area of concern, the highest Covid risk level.