Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

TRAVEL

Only one in five Germans plans ‘to travel in autumn or winter’

In light of a growing number of coronavirus cases and numerous travel warnings, only one in five Germans plans to travel in the autumn or winter, according to a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of DPA.

Published: 7 October 2020 16:45 CEST
Updated: 8 October 2020 16:03 CEST
Only one in five Germans plans 'to travel in autumn or winter'
A sign in Stuttgart points out the distance to various cities around the world. Photo: DPA

Eight percent of respondents said they intended to travel abroad, whereas 12 percent said they planned to take a trip domestically.

Of those surveyed, 66 percent said that they intended to sit out the whole autumn and winter travel season. A further eight percent were undecided, and five percent did not provide an answer.

In contrast to the previous year, a full 41 percent of those surveyed had travelled in the fall of 2019 and winter of 2019-2020. Of those, 23 percent had travelled abroad, and 18 percent within Germany.

READ ALSO: 'Who's controlling it?': Why you could face domestic travel restrictions within Germany

The representative survey of 2,034 people above the age of 18 took place between September 28th and 30th. 

Currently the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has issued full or partial travel warnings for eight out of the nine countries surrounding Germany due to increasing coronavirus cases.

Poland, which borders the German states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, is the only bordering country not on the RKI's list.

Within Germany itself, the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein issued a quarantine order for travellers from parts of central Berlin, which has seen cases spike in recent days.

'Take a holiday at home'

In some German states, the week-long autumn holiday already kicked off. 

Both for this and for the winter holidays, German Health Minister Jens Spahn has advised against travelling abroad due to the increasing number of corona infections. 

“You can also take a holiday at home”, the politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) recently told public broadcaster ZDF. 

READ ALSO: How to travel the world without leaving Germany

During the coronavirus pandemic, it had been shown time and again that people returning to their home countries were increasingly carrying the virus. 

“I think we should learn from this together for autumn, winter and Christmas holidays”, said Spahn. This will be challenging for tour operators, he added, but cannot be changed in the current situation.

In recent weeks, coronavirus infection rates in Europe have skyrocketed and many travel warnings have been reactivated. 

The German government is currently warning against travel in 138 of a total of almost 200 countries around the world. In 15 of these countries, however, the warning only applies to individual regions. 

The Federal Foreign Office advises against travelling to about 50 other countries because of entry or exit restrictions. 

The bottom line is that only a dozen countries remain that are free of travel warnings and for which travel is not advised.

Vocabulary

A trip abroad – eine Reise ins Ausland

Undecided – unentschlossen

Autumn holidays – (die) Herbstferien

The bottom line – unter dem Strich

We're aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

 

Member comments

  2. It confused me as well –
    After reading, it is obvious that it should be one in five planning to travel.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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

SHOW COMMENTS