Delta variant: Angela Merkel urges European countries to quarantine incoming Brits
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said today she wants more European countries to follow suit in Germany’s rule to quarantine travellers coming from Great Britain.
Speaking at what many believe to be her last Q&A as chancellor, she said that those entering European states from countries with high levels of the Delta variant should need to self-isolate.
“In our country, if you come from Great Britain, you have to go into quarantine – and that’s not the case in every European country, and that’s what I would like to see,” Merkel told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
“The pandemic is not over yet,” Merkel warned at the beginning of her Q&A. “We are still walking on thin ice.”
Currently, nobody from Britain is allowed into Germany unless they are a German citizen, a resident or a German citizen’s spouse, partner or child – or if there is an “urgent humanitarian reason”, such as a family bereavement.
Those allowed into Germany have to register to get permission to visit and quarantine for 14 days.
The chancellor’s comments come as the Delta variant has become the UK’s dominant strain of coronavirus and 41 cases of what has been called ‘Delta plus’, have been identified.