Due to the omicron variant of the corona virus, Germany had issued travel warnings to large parts of the world. The Robert Koch Institute is now changing the procedure and only wants to classify it as a high-risk area if more dangerous variants are circulating.

"The classification as a high-risk area only applies to areas in which there is a high incidence in relation to the spread of variants with higher virulence than the omicron variant, i.e. pathogenic properties," says the RKI.

The consequence of this is that due to the omicron variant, there will no longer be any identification of so-called high-risk areas. It also follows that with effect from March 3, 2022, all states will be removed from the high-risk list. Most recently, 63 countries were classified in this way.

So far, the RKI has used the seven-day incidence as the main criterion for the classifications. This also meant that states that were better off than Germany ended up on the list. This drew international criticism. The current change should also be due to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). Among other things, he explained that the seven-day incident had lost any significance due to the omicron variant.

For travelers, the about-face by the Robert Koch Institute means that even those who have not been vaccinated can enter the country more easily. The 3G rule applies. The so-called entry registration is no longer necessary in almost all cases, as this was previously linked to the classification of high-risk areas and virus variant areas.