Boost for holiday Brits as Germany lifts Covid restrictions for double-jabbed travellers

GERMANY has lifted Covid travel restrictions for double-jabbed Brits, giving a boost to holidaymakers.

The announcement from the Robert Koch Institute comes just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel met Boris Johnson for talks at Chequers.

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Britain has been downgraded from the highest level “virus variant area” to the second-highest of “high-incidence area”.

The move opens up quarantine-free travel for people who have had both Covid vaccine jabs or have antibodies, as well as reducing containment for those who have a negative test.

Speaking at a press conference alongside the Prime Minister at Chequers, she said: “We are continuously reviewing our travel restrictions.

“In the foreseeable future those who have received double jabs will be able to travel again without having to go into quarantine.

She added: “We adopted certain protective measures when we were not as yet so familiar with a Delta variant.

“We now see the share of the delta variant in Germany is increasing very rapidly.”

Long with the UK, Germany has also lifted restrictions with Portugal, Russia, India and Nepal.

Germany stuck the UK in its highest tier on May 23.

Airlines were forced to largely just carry German citizens and residents home, where they then had to spend a fortnight in quarantine.

Under the move, unvaccinated people arriving from Britain can avoid 10 days in quarantine if they test negative for the coronavirus after five days.

The move is an admission from Berlin that it failed in its bid to get all EU countries to impose 14-day isolation on Brits.

Mediterranean countries including Spain, Portugal, Malta, and Greece sunk Berlin’s call for an outright ban on Brits.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said last week that the Delta variant was fast becoming dominant in Germany, meaning that bans on most travellers from countries hit by that variant may be lifted.

While the number of Covid cases in Germany remains low it has been experiencing a rise in infections of the Indian Delta variant, which currently accounts for more than half of all new recorded positive tests.