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Sunday, February 21, 2021
Controls at the German border
The federal police rejects 16,000 travelers
Due to the spread of crown mutations, there are strict controls on the border with the Czech Republic and Austria. The result: in a week, the federal police denied entry to Germany to some 16,000 people. Meanwhile, Poland is also considering stricter entry rules.
During border checks at the crossings into the Czech Republic and the Austrian state of Tirol, nearly 16,000 people were turned away this week, 4,522 of them alone without a negative Corona test. According to a report by “Bild am Sonntag”, a total of 104,178 people were checked before entering Germany between February 14 and Saturday, and a total of 15,877 people were turned away. In addition to the lack of corona tests, those rejected either had no digital travel record or were not among the exceptions to enter Germany, such as doctors and nurses.
The federal government had declared the Czech Republic, Slovakia and much of the Tyrol in Austria as so-called virus variant areas. Since last Sunday, only Germans and foreigners with residence and residence permits in Germany have been able to enter from there. There are exceptions for truck drivers and cross-border travelers with systemically important professions. You must have a negative corona test that is no more than 48 hours old.
The president of the Federal Police, Dieter Romann, was satisfied. “The number of rejections has decreased proportionally since the controls began, because travelers are increasingly behaving in compliance with the rules due to the controls,” he told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Poland is also considering stricter entry rules at the borders with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Health Minister Adam Niedzielski announced a decision for next week on Saturday, according to the PAP news agency. For people who were able to prove their health with a test result, the limits remained open. But that could change, depending on the development of the pandemic.
Niedzielski expressed the expectation that the current corona wave in Poland will peak in March or April. There is currently a 10-day quarantine requirement when entering the country by public transport such as bus or train. Individual traffic and travelers are excluded. This also applies to people who have a current negative test result or who can try a corona vaccination. Many hospitals in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia are on the edge. With 968 new corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days, the Czech Republic is at the top of the EU.
