“I regret Germany's decision for a double reason. The first is to have placed the entire country. There are regions that, from the point of view of covid-19, are currently in a worrying situation, but others are not”, said Augusto Santos Silva, in statements to Lusa News Agency.

On the other hand, the minister recalled that the covid-19 digital certificate will take effect at the EU level as of 1 July. “The logic of the covid-19 certificate is that we can take restrictive measures to control the pandemic and let travel those who are vaccinated or immunized,” he pointed out.

However, Augusto Santos Silva said that the decision “is not surprising”, taking into account that Germany has taken an “extremely careful position”.

Health authorities in Germany have placed Portugal on the 'red list', a decision that will take effect from Tuesday and that will force all travelers from Portugal to a 14-day quarantine.

The United Kingdom, where the Delta variant of the covid-19 virus is already endemic, has already been declared a virus-variant zone, meaning travelers arriving from the UK face a mandatory two-week quarantine.