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Germany to require Covid test for China arrivals

Germany said Thursday it would ask arrivals from China for a negative coronavirus test as infections rose steeply following Beijing's abrupt decision to lift strict restrictions.

Published: 5 January 2023 11:56 CET

Travellers at Frankfurt airport.

Travellers at Frankfurt airport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sebastian Gollnow

Germany would change its entry requirements at “short notice”, following a recommendation by European Union experts to tighten travel rules, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said in a statement.

Member states agreed Wednesday to recommend a “precautionary approach” amid fears that unmonitored arrivals from China could introduce a new variant or subvariant of the coronavirus in Europe capable of evading existing vaccines.

Lauterbach welcomed the EU’s “common answer” to the rising number of cases in China.

READ ALSO: German doctors call for Covid restrictions on China arrivals

Passengers arriving from China will be required to present “at least a rapid antigen test” to enter Germany, Lauterbach said, without giving a
specific date.

Germany would also carry out “spot checks to identify virus variants” and “waste water tests” for journeys from China, he said.

Within the European Union, Italy and Spain had already imposed Covid test requirements for arrivals from China.

From Thursday, France has also required passengers travelling from China to present a negative test result.

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Germany to repeal last protective measures against Covid-19

The remaining restrictions – or the requirement to wear a mask in surgeries, clinics and nursing homes – are falling away a couple of days after German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) made an announcement that the Covid-19 pandemic is “over.”

“We have successfully managed the pandemic in Germany,” said Lauterbach at a press conference on Wednesday.

In light of low infection numbers and virus variants deemed to be less dangerous, Germany has been steadily peeling away the last of its longstanding measures.

READ ALSO: Germany monitoring new Covid variant closely, says Health Minister

The obligation to wear a mask on public transport was lifted on February 2nd.

During the height of the pandemic between 2020 and 2021, Germany introduced its strictest measures, which saw the closure of public institutions including schools and daycare centres (Kitas).

“The strategy of coping with the crisis had been successful overall,” said Lauterbach, while also admitting: “I don’t believe that the long school closures were entirely necessary.”

Since the first coronavirus cases in Germany were detected in January 2020, there have been over 38 million reported cases of the virus, and 171,272 people who died from or with the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

Voluntary measures

In surgeries and clinics, mask rules can remain in place on a voluntary basis – which some facilities said they would consider based on their individual situations.

“Of course, practices can stipulate a further obligation to wear masks as part of their house rules, and likewise everyone can continue to wear a mask voluntarily,” the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, told DPA.

But Gassen said it was good there would no longer be an “automatic obligation”, and that individuals could take the responsibility of protecting themselves and others into their own hands.

READ ALSO: Is the pandemic over in Germany?

“Hospitals are used to establishing hygiene measures to protect their patients, even independently of the coronavirus,” the head of the German Hospital Association (DKG), Gerald Gaß, told DPA.

With the end of the last statutory Covid measures, he said, we are entering “a new phase” in dealing with this illness.

“Hospitals will then decide individually according to the respective situation which measures they will take,” he said, for example based on the ages and illnesses of the patients being treated.

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