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A German tour group at the airport in Palma de Mallorca - the mask requirement at the airport has been lifted
Photo: Clara Margais / dpa
It is widespread in Great Britain, in Portugal too - and even Australia is reporting higher numbers again: More and more countries are fighting against the more aggressive Delta variant of the corona virus.
Now the call for stricter corona controls for holiday returnees is getting louder among German state politicians.
With a view to the rapid spread of the more contagious virus variation in Germany too, they urge that test and quarantine rules be tightened when entering from abroad.
"These samples, which are currently being implemented by the Federal Police, are not enough," said Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) on ZDF.
Hamburg's Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) criticized the fact that when entering from risk areas, a single, simple antigen test is currently sufficient to avoid quarantine.
"It's too uncertain," he said to the "world".
Instead, all non-vaccinated travelers returning from risk areas and high-incidence areas should go into quarantine, which should not be lifted until after five days at the earliest if the PCR test is negative.
"We don't want to get the dangers back to Germany"
Berlin Prime Minister Müller expressed a similar opinion. »You can check when you arrive: Who has the corresponding negative test certificate? And then after a certain quarantine period, double-check with a new test that you are really negative, "said the SPD politician on Sunday evening on ZDF. “It's nice when people can go on vacation. But we don't want to get the dangers back here in Germany. "
Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) had previously requested that vacationers at the borders be closely checked for vaccination cards and negative corona tests.
Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil provided support: »I expressly support the demand for border controls to determine whether there are any current negative tests.
This is exactly what has been lacking so far, ”said the SPD politician to“ Welt ”.
Differentiation between virus variant area and incidence area
Weil also called for a double test for all returnees who are not fully vaccinated. "Even in countries with comparatively low incidences, you run the risk of meeting other holidaymakers who carry the much more contagious Delta virus," he said. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) had previously warned: "International travel must not lead to more people becoming infected and carrying the virus home."
The Federal Government regularly assesses the corona situation abroad and distinguishes between virus variant areas in which variants classified as worrying are spreading, high incidence areas with a seven-day incidence of over 200 and risk areas with over 50. So far, only returnees from high-risk, high-incidence are subject - and virus variant areas test obligations.
Due to the falling number of infections, however, numerous holiday areas in Europe have recently fallen off the list of risk areas.
Those who return to Germany from there by land no longer have to observe any entry restrictions.
For air travelers, however, there is still a general test obligation: everyone - whether from a risk area or not - must present a negative test result, proof of vaccination or recovery before departure.
mrc / dpa
