Germany to test all non-vaccinated arrivals from August 1

Berlin, Jul 30 (EFE).- Germany will require all non-vaccinated incoming travelers over the age of 12 to present a negative coronavirus test from Sunday.

People who have recovered from Covid-19 as well as vaccinated people will be exempt from the new rules, which will apply to all passengers regardless of whether they travel by plane, train or car.

Deputy government spokeswoman, Ulrike Demmer, said authorities want to increase control over people entering the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

In addition to the new entry rules, risk categories for countries or regions of origin will be simplified: high-risk on the one hand, and dominated by the most aggressive variants on the other.

European countries such as Spain and the Netherlands were added to the first, high-risk category, a few weeks ago. Non-vaccinated travelers from these nations must be quarantined for ten days, which can be reduced by half if they test negative on the fifth day.

For the highest risk areas, such as Brazil, the restrictions are more severe, with only German travelers or residents of Germany allowed to enter the country, and they must quarantine for 10 days.

The new regulation will be implemented after weeks of steady increases in infections. In early July, the incidence fell to 4.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per week, while it now stands at a national average of 18.5 cases.

The country’s authorities are also watching with concern the development of “imported” cases from residents returning from a stay abroad or visiting the country.

Most of the imported infections come from Spain, according to the latest weekly report of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) of virology.

Although in the last two weeks there has been a clear rise in imported cases, the vast majority of infections, 81%, are domestic.