Another German travel warning: now also the Tyrolean Corona risk area

The German Foreign Ministry is now warning against travel to the Austrian state of Tyrol, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg. Tirol and the two EU states had been declared risk areas due to the sharp increase in the number of coronavirus infections, it said late Friday. A few days ago Austria received travel advisories for Vienna and Vorarlberg, as well as for some regions of the Czech Republic.

The Robert Koch Institute’s risk list in Berlin was updated accordingly on Friday, he said. The Czech Republic and Luxembourg were classified as risk areas. From the German point of view, 15 of the 27 EU countries are at least partially corona risk areas, Spain, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg are even fully so. Poland is the only one of Germany’s nine neighboring countries that has not yet been affected.

The Federal Foreign Office was expected to issue an official travel advisory for vacation trips for all new risk areas on Friday evening. For the countries of the European Union and the Schengen area, the criteria are the same.

Tyrol is a popular holiday area for Germans in summer and winter. There is also the Ischgl ski resort, which was one of the hot spots last winter from where the pandemic spread in Europe, as the German press agency dpa wrote on Friday. Participants from Vienna and Vorarlberg already had to submit a negative Covid-19 test upon entry, which should not be older than 48 hours. Otherwise, a 14-day quarantine requirement will apply.

In Austria, it is feared that travel advisories will have more effects on tourism. Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) and Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (both ÖVP) gave an perspective on winter tourism on Thursday and encouraged guests and hosts to spend a ski holiday with less foam. “Ski fun, yes, but without après-ski,” Kurz said. “Every travel advisory is dramatic for tourism,” said Köstinger, making it clear that food and drink should also be consumed while sitting outdoors.

The quarantine obligation is handled differently between German federal states, for example Schleswig-Holstein requires a second negative corona test at least five days after entry to end the quarantine early. Travelers who have not been to Vienna or Vorarlberg in the last 14 days can enter from Vienna-Schwechat Airport without restrictions.

There are also exceptions for travelers, transit (for example, in the German corner and from the little Walsertal) and when entering for family matters such as caring for relatives, visiting a partner or children, as well as medical treatments and other valid reasons. As of October 15, people from risk areas, including Vienna, Tirol and Vorarlberg, must register digitally before entering the country. Anyone who does not comply with their obligation to register runs the risk of being fined. There should be exceptions for travelers and other travelers in so-called small border traffic.

Most of the Czech regions had already been added to the risk list by Germany on Wednesday. This was followed by the Moravian-Silesian region in the extreme east of the country on the border with Poland and Usti (Aussig), which borders Saxony. Luxembourg borders the Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate. The government of the Grand Duchy had always been critical of previous border closures and travel advisories from Germany. In the small country of around 630,000 inhabitants, there are numerous travelers who regularly cross the border. However, they are exempt from the quarantine rules.

Travelers returning from risk areas must undergo corona tests 48 hours before or after entry and then quarantined until the test result is there. The travel warning is not a ban, but it is intended to have a significant deterrent effect on tourist travel.

After the outbreak of the corona pandemic, the federal Foreign Office issued a world travel advisory for tourist travel for the first time on March 17. It was initially raised again in mid-June for more than 30 European countries. After a few weeks, the travel advisories for the first countries had to be reactivated due to the increasing number of infections.

The classification as a risk area and the subsequent travel warning are issued if the number of new corona infections exceeds the mark of 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. In the case of travel advisories for countries outside of Europe, there may be other reasons for a travel advisory, such as entry bans or air traffic restrictions. But that should be changed on October 1.