The delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster and faster across Europe.
In Germany, too, it makes up almost 50 percent of the cases.
Politics tries to prepare the population.
According to the Federal Government, Berlin - Germany is facing the further spread of the more contagious Delta variant in the population.
With an increasing share, Delta will soon be the dominant variant in Germany, now the absolute number of infections must be kept as low as possible, said Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) on Thursday in Berlin.
According to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), at least every second corona infection in Germany is likely to be due to Delta.
Vaccination helps against the spread of Delta, said Spahn.
"Double vaccination protects against Delta," emphasized the minister.
This has now been proven.
Spahn warned people without a vaccination to get tested.
"We have tests en masse available." Spahn emphasized: "It is up to us whether Delta has a chance." It is up to the Germans themselves whether after a great holiday there will also be a great time in autumn.
The general recommendation to unvaccinated people to be tested regularly also applies to those returning to travel.
"We have significantly more opportunities than a year ago," said the minister.
In addition to the wide range of tests, there are also clear rules at the beginning of the travel period.
In order to minimize an entry from other countries, the "comparatively strict" entry regulations apply.
According to Spahn, there are now officially options for control.
After the summer of 2020, the authorities had increasingly reached their limits in tracking the corona contacts.
Spahn said the health authorities are increasingly relieved of the burden of tracing contacts due to falling incidences.
You could control the quarantine of people who have come from Corona areas.
Seehofer against stationary border controls
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer does not want to introduce any stationary border controls to contain the corona pandemic in the summer months.
The controls at airports by the federal police and the monitoring of quarantine obligations by the health authorities should, according to him, be strengthened.
According to Seehofer, anyone arriving by car should be prepared for random checks in the border area.
"Anyone who enters must expect to be checked," emphasized the CSU politician on Thursday in Berlin.
Seehofer said the federal, state and local authorities must ensure that the corona rules are observed everywhere.
It is a matter of not jeopardizing the success achieved so far in combating the pandemic.
No neighboring country of Germany is currently classified as a risk area. The random checks of motorists near the border, for example, concern travelers who come by car from Turkey or the UK. Travelers who have been in a risk area, high incidence area or virus variant area in the past ten days must fill out an electronic entry form before arriving in Germany.
He will not allow himself to be pushed to stationary border controls by individual prime ministers, said Seehofer.
Long traffic jams at the border crossings should be avoided.
In addition, state governments that demanded such controls would have insisted on more exceptions during the border controls last year.
"We're not playing this game a second time," said Seehofer.
Downgrade Virus Variant Areas Soon
The federal government wants to downgrade Portugal and Great Britain for travelers from virus variants to high incidence areas again soon. The Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) announced on Thursday in Berlin. This will be the case when the proportions of the more contagious Delta variant are comparable, i.e. probably 70 to 80 percent. According to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), every second corona infection in Germany is due to the delta variant this week.
The decisive factor for the decision to be expected in the coming days will be that the relative proportion of the variant in Germany increases and that it becomes dominant, said Spahn. At the same time, it is crucial that the double vaccinations protect against Delta and that this increase in Germany. The step will "not be a long way off". The current classification as a virus variant area results in strict quarantine rules even for vaccinated travelers. dpa