Berlin, Dec. 19 (BNA): German state health ministers have called on the federal government to implement stricter entry rules for Germany to slow the spread of the Omicron type of coronavirus.
And the German news agency (dpa) said that the expected measures will apply to entry from “zones of virus spread”, including travelers from those regions who pass through German airports only.
“Making entry safer helps prevent the omicron variant from spreading too quickly,” Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told dpa after an extraordinary meeting on Saturday with state ministers to discuss the epidemiological situation.
“We can’t prevent its spread, we just delay it. The longer it takes Omicron to take control of Germany, the better,” said Lauterbach, who expects the country will soon face a “huge” fifth wave of cases.
Specifically, travelers of 6 years of age who have been in an altered region of the virus at any time in the past 10 days must submit a negative PCR test prior to departure – a rapid antigen test will not suffice in this case.
The regulation will also apply to people who pass through a German airport before boarding a flight.
Meanwhile, from Sunday, France and Denmark will be considered “high-risk” areas due to their infection rates. This means that all of Germany’s neighbors, with the exception of Luxembourg, will be classified as such.
Anyone entering from this area who has not been fully vaccinated or has not recovered must be quarantined for 10 days, although quarantine can end with a negative test five days after entry as soon as possible.
The classification of “high risk” by the German government is less severe than “region of virus variant”.
Only South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe currently have a “virus variant” designation, although some ministers are calling for Britain to be added due to the rapid spread of Omicron there.
Germany is in the midst of a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. On Saturday, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control agency reported the value of new infections per 100,000 residents and the week at 321.8. The day before, the number had settled at 331.8.
On Friday, the Ministry of Health said that about 1.1 million doses of vaccination have been administered. The majority – about 921,000 of them – had booster vaccines.
70.2 percent of people in Germany have now been fully vaccinated against the virus. At least 58.4 million people received the second injection, which is usually necessary for this purpose.
At least 25.2 million people, or 30.3 percent of the population, have now received an additional booster dose.
The 16 German states have plenty of leeway to implement their own coronavirus measures. On Saturday, Thuringia announced that once a non-vaccinated person attends any gathering, only two people from another home are allowed to attend.
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