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Germany to make Covid-19 tests mandatory for travellers from risk areas

Germany will make coronavirus tests mandatory for travellers returning from risk areas, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Monday, as fears rise that summer travel could spark a new surge in infections.

Published: 27 July 2020 17:03 CEST
Updated: 27 July 2020 18:23 CEST
Germany to make Covid-19 tests mandatory for travellers from risk areas
Health Minister Jens Spahn. Photo: DPA

Spahn said that he would “order compulsory testing for travellers returning from risk areas” in a bid to stall the spread of the virus in Germany, as concerns grow over a surge due to summer travel.

This would serve to protect all citizens, he said. “We must prevent travel returnees from infecting others unnoticed and thus triggering new chains of infection,” said the politician who's a member of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

The tests are to be free of charge for travellers.

Germany's public health institute RKI currently considers around 130 nations worldwide to be “risk countries”, with EU and Schengen area neighbours among the exceptions.

Spahn announced the plans to his counterparts from the federal states in a conference. According to the proposals, the testing obligation is based on a rule under the Protection against Infection Law. It refers to an 'epidemic situation of national importance', which the Bundestag had determined for coronavirus.

It means the Federal Ministry can make sure people who enter Germany after being exposed to an increased risk of infection can be ordered to undergo a medical examination. The corresponding regulation is expected to come into force next week.

Several federal states had previously spoken out in favour of a compulsory test for returning travellers.

On Friday, Germany announced it would offer free coronavirus tests to all returning travellers and had been considering if it would make them mandatory for people coming back from areas deemed high risk.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about travelling from Germany to other European countries

Amid the deliberations over summer travel, some 500 workers have been sent into quarantine on a large Bavarian farm in order to contain a mass coronavirus outbreak.

READ ALSO: 'The situation is worrying': Germany sees rise in coronavirus infections

At least 174 seasonal workers have tested positive for the virus on the farm in the municipality of Mamming, most of them from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Bavaria has upped its testing of returning holidaymakers, with test sites set to be erected at some border crossings, train stations and motorways.

Germany has fared better than many of its neighbours in suppressing the virus, reporting just over 200,000 cases and around 9,100 deaths to date, according to the Robert Koch Institute for disease control.

But the country has also been hit by repeated coronavirus outbreaks at slaughterhouses, keeping authorities on high alert.

READ ALSO: Germany mulls compulsory coronavirus test for returning travellers

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HEALTH

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

It’s back again: amid sinking temperatures, the incidence of Covid-19 has been slowly rising in Germany. But is this enough to merit worrying about the virus?

Published: 20 September 2023 12:05 CEST
Updated: 20 September 2023 22:22 CEST
Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

More people donning face masks in supermarkets, friends cancelling plans last minute due to getting sick with Covid-19. We might have seen some of those familiar reminders recently that the coronavirus is still around, but could there really be a resurgence of the virus like we experienced during the pandemic years?

According to virologists, the answer seems to be ‘maybe’: since July, the number of people newly infected with Covid-19 has been slowly rising from a very low level.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), nine people per 100,000 inhabitants became newly infected in Germany last week. A year ago, there were only around 270 reported cases.

Various Corona variants are currently on the loose in the country. According to the RKI,  the EG.5 (also called Eris) and XBB.1.16 lines were each detected in the week ending September 3rd with a share of just under 23 percent. 

The highly mutated variant BA.2.86 (Pirola), which is currently under observation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), also arrived in the country this week, according to RKI. 

High number of unreported case

The RKI epidemiologists also warned about a high number of unreported cases since hardly any testing is done. They pointed out that almost half of all registered sewage treatment plants report an increasing viral load in wastewater tests.

The number of hospital admissions has also increased slightly, but are still a far cry from the occupation rate amid the pandemic. Last week it was two per 100,000 inhabitants. In the intensive care units, only 1.2 percent of all beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Still, a good three-quarters (76.4 percent) of people in Germany have been vaccinated at least twice and thus have basic immunity, reported RKI. 

Since Monday, doctors’ offices have been vaccinating with the adapted vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer, available to anyone over 12 years old, with a vaccine for small children set to be released the following week and one for those between 5 and 11 to come out October 2nd.

But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has so far only recommended that people over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions get vaccinated.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who should get a Covid jab this autumn in Germany?

“The pandemic is over, the virus remains,” he said. “We cannot predict the course of coming waves of corona, but it is clear that older people and people with pre-existing conditions remain at higher risk of becoming severely ill from Covid-19”

The RKI also recommended that people with a cold voluntarily wear a mask. Anyone exhibiting cough, cold, sore throat or other symptoms of a respiratory illness should voluntarily stay at home for three to five days and take regular corona self-tests. 

However, further measures such as contact restrictions are not necessary, he said.

One of many diseases

As of this autumn, Covid-19 could be one of many respiratory diseases. As with influenza, there are no longer absolute infection figures for coronavirus.

Saarbrücken pharmacist Thorsten Lehr told German broadcaster ZDF that self-protection through vaccinations, wearing a mask and getting tested when symptoms appear are prerequisites for surviving the Covid autumn well. 

Only a new, more aggressive mutation could completely turn the game around, he added.

On April 7th of this year, Germany removed the last of its over two-year long coronavirus restrictions, including mask-wearing in some public places.

READ ALSO: German doctors recommend Covid-19 self-tests amid new variant

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