Delta variant of the coronavirus: Calls for stricter rules for travelers

In view of the increasingly rapid spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, the role of travelers comes increasingly to the fore during the holiday season.

At the weekend there were calls for stricter rules for those returning to travel.

There are also calls from the opposition for a faster second vaccination.

According to Bavaria's Minister of Health, Klaus Holetschek (CSU), German returnees have to be prepared for strict controls of their vaccination cards and negative tests because of the Delta variant.

"In contrast to last summer, nationwide test systems have been set up throughout Germany," emphasized Holetschek, who is also chairman of the health ministers' conference, in "Bild am Sonntag".

It is crucial "that tests are carried out before entry and that the test certificates are not just randomly checked at the border crossings and airports," Holetschek told the newspaper.

Bavaria is in close coordination with the federal government in order to ensure close controls during the travel time.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig and health expert Karl Lauterbach (both SPD) spoke out in the "Rheinische Post" on Saturday for a double test obligation for travelers returning. Schwesig said international travel should "not lead to more people becoming infected and carrying the virus home". It is therefore important "that all returnees from risk areas take two tests," she said. The tests should be done at the beginning of your return and after five days of quarantine.

Due to the tense corona situation in Great Britain, Lauterbach also pleaded for stricter entry restrictions for British people into the European Union. It is "completely incomprehensible why there are no tough EU-wide entry restrictions for travelers from Great Britain," said Lauterbach of the "Bild" newspaper on Saturday. Great Britain has been classified as a virus variant area by Germany since May.

As of Tuesday, such virus variant areas will also include Russia and Portugal - according to the coronavirus entry regulation, even vaccinated or recovered returnees must be in quarantine when they return to Germany. Because after staying in virus variant areas, people with a recovery or vaccination certificate are also obliged to a fourteen-day quarantine. This cannot be ended prematurely either.

With a view to the Delta variant, opposition representatives spoke out in favor of a faster second vaccination. The Green Bundestag member Janosch Dahmen told "Welt am Sonntag" that the second vaccination for mRNA vaccines should "urgently be brought forward and take place three weeks after the first vaccination". There were "hard data" that the vaccination against the Delta variant was very effective during this period. When it came to second vaccinations with Astrazeneca, Dahmen was reluctant because there was a lack of relevant data.

The FDP parliamentary group also called for a rethink.

Andrew Ullmann, infectiologist and chairman of his group in the health committee, told the "WamS" that the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) should revise its recommendation on vaccination intervals and bring forward the timing of the second vaccination.

The President of the German Society for Immunology, Christine Falk, was skeptical.

"If we change the strategy for the second vaccination now, we are jeopardizing the pace of the first vaccination," she told the newspaper.

The President of the German Association of General Practitioners, Ulrich Weigeldt, told "Welt am Sonntag" that "unfortunately it is still the case that we do not have enough vaccine available and that almost half of the population has not even received the first vaccination".

According to the Federal Ministry of Health, around 28.9 million people in Germany have been fully vaccinated so far.

That is 34.8 percent of the total population.

Almost 44.4 million people or 53.3 percent of the population received at least one dose of vaccine.

jm / jes