Status: 07/27/2021 5:05 p.m.
So far, there has been a compulsory test for flight passengers. But Health Minister Spahn wants to have all return travelers tested. The government was voting, said his spokeswoman.
Those who return to travel have to be prepared for mandatory tests on their return: The federal government is advising on extended test obligations at the end of the summer vacation time, said a spokeswoman for Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU). “The Federal Ministry of Health is for the fastest possible expansion of the test obligations upon entry.” The votes within the government were ongoing.
It has been known for a long time that Spahn wants to oblige all immigrants to submit evidence of recovery or vaccination or to have themselves tested. However, there is apparently resistance from the Federal Ministry of Justice. The newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe had reported that Spahn wanted to oblige travelers in the future to submit a negative corona test when they enter Germany – regardless of which areas and which means of transport they come back from. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) also supports this approach. According to reports, stationary border controls are not part of the concept.
Matthias Deiß, ARD Berlin, on the corona controls for return travelers
daily news 5:00 p.m., 7/27/2021
So far, the obligation to test applies to air passengers and travelers from high-risk areas who have not been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or who have not recovered from Covid-19 disease. Proof of a negative result must be made in the holiday country and presented before the start – or proof of a convalescent or fully vaccinated person.
According to the report, Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has so far resisted Spahn’s plans in the cabinet. She therefore considers the comprehensive test obligation to be disproportionate. That is why Spahn’s project is not part of the new entry regulations that come into force on Wednesday. Among other things, it stipulates that, unlike in the past, those who have been proven to be vaccinated and recovered are exempt from quarantine if they enter from a virus variant area. Otherwise, with the new entry regulation, the previous test and quarantine rules will essentially be extended until September 10th.
Virologist welcomes expansion of mandatory testing
The Frankfurt virologist Martin Stürmer welcomed the planned expansion of the obligation to test. “We are actually already seeing that travelers returning to Germany contribute more and more to bringing infections to Germany,” he said in a joint statement Morning magazine from ARD and ZDF.
That is certainly also due to the fact that vaccinated and convalescent people do not take the tests, even if they come from high-risk areas. He called such an approach “negligent” because it was already known that vaccinated people could also become infected with the Delta variant. Striker refused to be vaccinated. He advocated “convincing people that it is important to get vaccinated”.
Virologist Martin Stürmer: “Those who return from travel often contribute to bringing infections to Germany.”
daily news 9:00 a.m., 7/27/2021
Söder: Testing the vacationers comes too late
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder criticized the tug-of-war over mandatory tests. Spahn’s proposal was nowhere near, said Söder after a meeting of the Bavarian cabinet. Until then, the holidays in Bavaria are over. “It’s just all very late. The vacation dates didn’t just fall from the sky.” Germany needs clear lines at an early stage for dealing with the pandemic for the fall, the CSU chief demanded. “We mustn’t just stumble into autumn. It won’t be enough to hope that the Corona goblet will pass us before the federal election and that we won’t have to decide anything.”
More and more are infected abroad
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), returnees play an increasingly important role in the development of the infection process. According to the current weekly status report of the RKI the number of people infected abroad increased significantly in the weeks from June 21 to July 18.
Accordingly, a probable exposure abroad was reported in 2402 people – around ten percent of all reported cases. “This shows an increasing role of travel-related cases in the current infection rate,” says the RKI report. For the reporting week from May 31 to June 6, the RKI had specified the proportion of cases from abroad in all reported new infections as one percent.
Spain and the Netherlands have been a high incidence area since today
A total of 23,649 cases were reported in the current reporting week, 11,662 of them from Germany. In 9949 cases, no information is available on the likely country of infection. According to the RKI, Spain follows Germany with 821 cases of the countries of origin of the new infections.
The travel destination has been classified as a high incidence area since today – including the holiday destinations popular with Germans such as Mallorca, the Canary Islands or the Costa Brava. The Netherlands is now also a high incidence area. Returning travelers must provide proof of a complete vaccination or of having survived corona disease in order to avoid a ten-day quarantine.
Otherwise, you will only be able to test yourself out of quarantine after five days. According to the tour operator TUI, there were initially hardly any indications that a large number of people wanted to break off their Mallorca vacation prematurely or cancel previously booked stays.
Spain and the Netherlands are now high incidence areas
Martin Polansky, ARD Berlin, July 27, 2021 8:29 am