The federal government will introduce stationary border controls at the borders of two countries from Sunday.
The background is the corona mutation from Great Britain.
The federal government is introducing border controls at the borders with Austria and the Czech Republic.
The reason for the measure is the spread of the British virus mutation *.
From now on, a test is compulsory for travelers.
Update from February 11th, 7:32 p.m
.: Now it's official.
After the mutated coronavirus had spread in the Czech Republic and parts of Austria, the federal government decided on new entry restrictions and border controls.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Czech Republic and Tyrol were classified as so-called virus mutation areas on Thursday.
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) decided to introduce temporary border controls at the borders with the Czech Republic as well as the internal border controls with Austria that have existed since the refugee crisis, a spokesman said.
The federal government is currently coordinating with all partners involved, "especially on possible exceptions" and will soon provide more detailed information.
Corona: border tight?
Seehofer and Merkel probably agree - entry freeze for two neighboring countries planned
Initial notification
: Berlin - The federal government wants to impose an entry ban from the Czech Republic and Tyrol.
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer * confirmed this to the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
on Thursday
.
"The Free State of Bavaria and the Free State of Saxony today asked the federal government to classify Tyrol and the border areas of the Czech Republic as virus mutation areas * and to carry out stationary border controls," Seehofer told the newspaper. "We will probably decide that." so tuned.
The measures could correspond to the entry bans from the UK and are currently being voted on, according to the report.
Seehofer announced that “probably on Sunday night” the measures will come into force.
Are the borders closed from Sunday?
Tyrol and the Czech Republic show increased activity of the mutation
In Tyrol, as in the Czech Republic, increased activity of the coronavirus * mutations had been detected in the past few days.
In Austria, there are already stricter entry and exit rules for Tyroleans.
In the Czech Republic, the mutation is particularly widespread in the border areas with Saxony.
In the afternoon, the auto industry criticized the possible tightening of entry regulations.
"Our industry is dependent on the daily deliveries to the plants in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and many other countries in Southern and Eastern Europe," said the President of the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA), Hildegard Müller on Thursday.
“If deliveries are interrupted, most of the plants here in Germany will be shut down for a short time.
Border control to Austria and Tyrol: Söder announces mandatory testing
As an alternative to border closings, the association proposed "to guarantee delivery traffic and containment of the virus mutant by checking test and registration requirements for all drivers".
Saxony had previously announced a significant restriction in commuter traffic in view of the drastic Corona numbers in the Czech border areas.
Should Tyrol and areas of the Czech Republic be declared a mutation area, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder also announced on Thursday afternoon that there would be stationary controls at the borders.
Entry to Bavaria would then only be possible without exception with a negative corona test *, which could then no longer be made up in Bavaria.
"This can significantly improve our security," said Söder.
Video: Söder is considering closing borders with Austria and the Czech Republic
Commuters from the Czech Republic have had to show a negative Corona * test result when entering Bavaria since the end of January, which is no longer than 48 hours old.
The Czech Republic announced that it would seal off three border districts from the outside world from Friday.
The districts of Cheb (Eger) and Sokolov (Falkenau) on the border with Bavaria and Trutnov (Trautenau) in the border triangle with Poland and Saxony are affected.
(fmü / dpa)
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network.