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Friday, September 25, 2020
New corona infections are increasing in Europe. In more and more regions, the numbers exceed the limit. Now the federal government has declared other regions of the EU to be risk areas. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs adapted its information accordingly.
The federal government has declared the entire Czech Republic, Luxembourg and the Austrian state of Tyrol to be corona risk areas due to the rapidly increasing number of infections. The Robert Koch Institute risk list and the Federal Foreign Office travel advisories have been updated accordingly. This means that 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.
Most of the Czech regions had already been added to the risk list two days ago. 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. Tyrol with its capital Innsbruck is also a border region and also a very popular holiday area for Germans in summer and winter. There is also the Ischgl ski resort, which was one of the hotspots from which the pandemic spread in Europe last winter.
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.
The travel warning is not a ban
The criteria are the same for the EU countries and the Schengen area. 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 advisory is not a ban, but is intended to have a significant deterrent effect on tourist travel. However, it also has a silver lining for consumers: it allows vacationers to cancel reservations for free.
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.
The Czech Republic reacted seriously to the designation as a risk zone. “Unfortunately, it did not take long. Germany has just decided to include the remaining two regions in the list of risk areas,” Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek tweeted. “This means that the entire Czech Republic is already being viewed as a risk area, with immediate effect.” Czech Health Minister Roman Prymula announced restrictions on leisure activities for next week in order to reduce the number of infections.
In Austria, it is feared that travel advisories will have more effects on tourism. The Vorarlberg region bordering Lake Constance was declared a risk zone on Wednesday. “Every travel warning is dramatic for tourism,” said Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger. By Thursday evening, the Tyrolean districts of Landeck and Schwaz had already been reassessed as high-risk areas at the official Austrian Crown traffic light. Ischgl is part of Landeck. There, tourism companies not only want to implement the government’s après-ski ban, but also want to attract guests with more measures. Among other things, virus tests are planned for employees. But is that enough to attract tourists from Germany?
