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BORDER

Czechs rush to Germany before border closes

Czechs hurried to cross the German border on Saturday a day before it closes as part of Berlin's effort to stop the spread of highly infectious coronavirus strains.

Published: 13 February 2021 20:37 CET
Czechs rush to Germany before border closes
A car with a German license plate crosses the border from the Czech Republic. Photo: Michal Cizek / AFP
Germany said on Thursday it would ban travel from the Czech Republic as well as from Austria's Tyrol region over a surge in the virus variants.
   
Germany classed the Czech Republic and Austria's Tyrol as hotspots and opted to implement border controls in its southern states of Bavaria and Saxony as of Sunday.
   
In normal times, there is free passage between fellow member states of the European Union like the Czech Republic and Germany.
   
“I must cross the border before midnight,” professional driver Ludvik Boucek told AFP on Saturday afternoon as he washed his truck at a service area at the western Czech crossing of Rozvadov.
   
“I'm glad the company dispatcher told me about the closure. I hadn't heard anything about it,” said Boucek, who is headed for England.
   
Only essential workers — like doctors or employees in elderly care homes — and returning Germans will be allowed to cross the border to Germany as of Sunday.
 
 
 
'Indispensability' certificates
 
“Czech cross-border workers in Germany will need a certificate of 'indispensability' and a negative test every day,” the Czech foreign ministry said in a tweet Saturday. “Border controls will be in place for at least 10 days.”
   
Other travellers as well as cross-border students will have to go into two-week quarantine.
   
In late January, Berlin already restricted travel from countries or places hardest hit by new highly contagious coronavirus variants.
   
An EU member of 10.7 million people, the Czech Republic has registered some of the world's highest coronavirus infection rates on a per capita basis in recent months.
   
It has seen over a million confirmed cases and more than 18,000 deaths since the March outbreak.
   
The populist government of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis  failed in its attempt to extend a state of emergency past February 14 after it was voted down in parliament on Thursday.
   
The government has quarantined three worst-hit regions, deploying almost 600 police officers to carry out random checks on their borders.
   
Waiting to cross over into Bavaria at the snow-covered Czech Rozvadov crossing, van driver Milan Vaculka said he was worried about how and when he and his colleague might be able to return home.
   
“We have no idea what things will be like when we return. Nobody told us that,” he told AFP.

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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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