Germany is working on a travel ban on arrivals from the U.K., Portugal, Brazil, and South Africa to prevent the spread of the new Coronavirus variants.
The Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer, confirmed the decision on Thursday, January 28. The approval from Germany’s Federal Cabinet is expected today, January 29. The travel ban could be implemented next week.
The travel restrictions could also affect other countries where the COVID-19 strains are widely spread, such as Portugal, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
As the new COVID-19 mutations are highly contagious, Germany is determined to find a quick solution.
According to Seehofer, the country is not going to wait for a European protocol to be delivered. Although, E.U. interior ministers have already met to discuss a more coordinated approach regarding international travel measures.
Individual state members are permitted to establish their own rules.
Portugal, for example, halted all connections to Brazil on Wednesday. It has also closed its borders with Spain today.
Similarly, Finland is open only for non-essential travel, such as healthcare reasons or freight transport.
However, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, warns that individual closures might not be as effective and could trigger a greater economic chaos.
Along with Charles Michel, the President of the European Council also considers that cross-border travel should be avoided, except for essential workers and truck drivers.
As the number of COVID-19 cases is rising across Europe, there is an urge to bring the risk of travel-related infections to the minimum, says Didier Reynders, the E.U. Justice Commissioner.
Last week, Germany extended its national lockdown restrictions, which had been set to expire at the end of January. All non-essentials shops and services, as well as schools, remain closed.
Leisure travel is prohibited in Germany. However, all citizens from the E.U. and Schengen Area can still enter the country without justification.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Germany has reported over 2.2 million COVID-19 cases and more than 56,000 deaths. There are 240,636 active cases at the moment.
Compared to December 2020, the number of Coronavirus cases seems to drop. Nevertheless, there are still around 15,000 new daily cases.
Germany also started the vaccination rollout on December 27. 2.2 million vaccines have been distributed so far, with priority given to the elderly, healthcare workers, nursing home residents, and their staff. The vaccines administered are yet mostly first doses.