Coronavirus: Germany plans compulsory testing for travellers from high-risk areas

‘We have to stop returnees from unwittingly infecting others,’ health minister says

Germany has revealed plans for compulsory and free coronavirus tests for holidaymakers coming back from high-risk countries during the pandemic.

The announcement came on the same day the Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said an increase in infections over recent days had given ”cause for concern”.

Germany announced the testing plan on Monday in a bid to slow the spread of infections as the holiday season kicked into high gear.

“We have to stop returnees from unwittingly infecting others and sparking new chains of infection,” Jens Spahn, the health minister, tweeted.

The announcement followed an abrupt decision by the UK to reimpose a quarantine requirement for travellers from Spain, which has thrown Europe’s vaunted summer holiday-season reopening into disarray.

With infection numbers ticking up as travel resumes after long months of lockdown, concern at the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus infections overrode German scruples about the ethics of forcing people to undergo tests.

Germany has designated 130 countries as high-risk, including Turkey, Egypt and the US.

However, the health minister told ARD television’s Tagesthemen programme that the list would be reviewed daily, adding that he was worried about the uptick in Spain since so many Germans holidayed there.

Ms Merkel’s chief of staff had earlier said it would be harder to make up lost ground later.

“All the indications we have are that it is easier to keep infection numbers down in summer than it is autumn or winter,” Helge Braun said.

The move is a victory for Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder, who had warned that returning travellers could cause many “mini-Ischgls” – a reference to the Austrian ski resort that was the source of some of Germany’s first cases.

Mr Soeder, seen as a candidate to succeed Ms Merkel as chancellor, had said Bavaria was ready to start airport testing as soon as the national government provided the legal basis.

Anything that adds to the barriers facing holidaymakers could come as a blow to Frankfurt Airport, airline Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn, all of which have been banking on a resumption of tourism to help fuel a recovery.

On Friday, Germany reported 815 new coronavirus cases – a two-month high.

More than 205,590 people have tested positive for the virus in the country as of Monday, while the death toll stood at around 9,000.

Additional reporting by Reuters