Germany has lifted its blanket warning against travelling to all countries outside the European Union, although little is likely to change for most travellers under the new regulation.

The cautious reopening, agreed by the German cabinet three weeks ago, comes as Europe faces an uptick in Covid-19 cases, with many warning the continent is on the cusp of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.

Germany imposed a global travel warning in March, when the virus was raging in northern Italy, but lifted it for most European countries in June. In September, Berlin began reissuing warnings for regions within Europe when infections rose above the level of 50 cases per 100,000 people over a week.

In future, the same standard will be applied to the rest of the world. This means that provided the prevalence of the virus is below that threshold, travelers will be able to return to Germany without going into quarantine pending a negative test.