Friday, 15 Nov 2024

Germany ignores EU free-travel rules and slaps restrictions on Europeans entering country

EU slammed by MEP for 'disorderly' actions on travel

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Health minister Jens Spahn wants anyone entering the country to submit a negative COVID-19 test. The rules are expected to be implemented on all travellers regardless of how they entered and from which country they arrived. Government discussions are under way in Berlin over the plans, according to his spokeswoman.

Currently, in Germany tests are required for airline passengers, and for travellers, regardless of the means of transport from countries designated as high-risk areas.

The rules are imposed travellers who are not either fully vaccinated or have proof of recovering from Covid.

Tighter entry requirements were slapped on people entering from Spain and the Netherlands after Germany classified them as high-incidence areas.

The changes means unvaccinated people returning from those countries will be subjected to a mandatory quarantine of at least five days.

The measures do not apply to commuters living in the Dutch-German border region.

Berlin’s new travel rules are expected to spark holiday chaos with the Spain and the Dutch coast popular with German tourists.

Families are expected to be most-affected with just two percent of under-18s fully vaccinated.

Nearly half of Germans are exempt from the isolation rules because they have received both doses of a coronavirus jab.

Norbert Fiebig, the president of the German Travel Association, said: “Upgrading Spain to a high incidence area in the middle of the holiday season is ruining the plans of many travellers, especially families with children.

“We must move away from a purely incidence-based approach when classifying destinations. Instead, the focus should be on the actual risk situation for travellers as well as the burden on the health system.”

The tougher restrictions came amid fears that returning travellers are to blame for the rising infection rate in Germany.

Research by the Robert Koch Institute for disease control all but confirmed the concerns.

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Cases have been increasing for three weeks and increased by 75 percent in the past week.

The seven-day rate per 100,000 was 14.5 yesterday, a jump from 14.3 on Monday, and there was 1,545 new cases.

According to the RKI, the number of cases imported from outside of Germany soared significantly from June 21 to July 18.

It was said 2,402, or about 10 percent of new cases, were believed to have been infected abroad.

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The Netherlands has also introduced emergency restrictions at its borders to ensure people are returning virus-free.

Travellers will need proof of a negative PCR test or to be double-jabbed.

Dutch premier Mark Rutte said the measures were designed to stop a repeat of last year’s jump in infections.

It means all EU destinations will deemed safe for travel, with either a green or yellow waiting.

This allows for travel without the disruption caused by the Netherlands amber warning for countries with high infection rates.

Mr Rutte said: ‘In this way we give holidaymakers more certainty.”

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