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During the Christmas season, Germany introduced tests at airports, train stations and highways to prevent importation of the crown into the country. As of Tuesday, different rules apply, but for newcomers from Serbia and countries in the region, nothing will change for another two weeks.
What will change from today?
While returnees from so-called high-risk countries, including Serbia, the rest of the Western Balkans, as well as more than 130 countries or regions in the world, must undergo testing upon entry or spending 14 days in quarantine, returnees from countries not considered risky until now could be tested voluntarily and free of charge.
Starting today, returnees from countries that are not at risk will no longer be screened when they wish, but only if there is a suspicion of a corona due to symptoms.
Why is this rule changing?
In recent weeks, German laboratories have been working almost to the limit of their capacities: around 1.1 million tests are carried out per week.
Critics have blamed the Health Ministry that such extensive tests cost a lot of work and money, and that targeted testing is better.
What about returnees from Serbia?
For people coming to Germany from Serbia, regardless of their citizenship, the compulsory and free tests are still applied when entering the country.
So far, it’s been like this: When you arrive, say, by plane, you line up in front of a mobile testing station where you take a swab. The passenger is instructed to install a special corona application in which, typically, within 48 hours, they will get a negative test result. Only if it is positive, the Institute of Public Health calls you by phone.
While awaiting the test result, the returnee is obliged to remain in isolation in his accommodation.
Anyone who does not get tested at the entrance, say because he came by car and did not stop at one of the test stations on the road, can do it for free for the next ten days at one of the labs or at his GP (In the meantime we must not leave the house).
Otherwise, you must spend a full 14 days in quarantine. This is so even when the passenger at the entrance does not receive any paper or notice. The penalties for non-compliance with quarantine are draconian in some provinces.
What will it be like from October 1?
It has yet to be confirmed, but chances are high that testing of returnees from risk countries upon entry into the country will be removed in early October. They will then have to be in self-isolation at home for a full 14 days, or at least five days, after which they will be tested on their own, and when a negative result comes in, they will be released from quarantine.
Who are we from Serbia to Germany anyway?
Only German citizens and foreigners living and working in Germany can still enter from risk countries. Also, people who come for business such as truck drivers or seasonal workers, those who have to go to court, have a scheduled treatment or are going to visit their spouse. Tourist visits are prohibited.
Has the massive passenger tests been worth it for Germany?
That is difficult to answer. On the one hand, there are provinces where in recent weeks around a third of the total registered cases of corona have occurred among returnees to the country; it is possible that they would not have been detected without massive testing. Newcomers from Kosovo lead in terms of participation, followed by Turkey, followed by Croatia and Serbia.
On the other hand, after millions of tests upon entering the country, the virus was confirmed in one percent of those examined. The Robert Koch Institute is reluctant to judge whether it is a success or not. Critics believe you can do better with less resource consumption, if you aim.
Also, there was real chaos in Bavaria, where most people enter by road. Poorly organized test stations where non-expert volunteers work without digital files have meant that tens of thousands of samples taken from passengers cannot be processed in time. Among them were more than a thousand positives about the crown that were later reported too late..
