A woman waits at the Berlin Brandenburg airport, as EU countries begin closing their doors to travelers from the United Kingdom
Germany is preparing to put more restrictions on people entering the country by making travelers from any country provide a negative coronavirus test in an effort to contain a rapid rise in cases.
The health ministry wants “an expansion of test requirements upon entry as quickly as possible”, the Funke group newspapers cited a document as saying.
Until now, only air passengers and those entering from high-risk areas have to provide a negative coronavirus test unless they are fully vaccinated or have recovered.
In future, Health Minister Jens Spahn wants to make a test compulsory regardless of where travelers are coming from and the means of transport they use, said Funke. It was unclear whether the new testing requirements would also apply to fully inoculated people.
“The coordination in the government on this is underway,” a spokeswoman for the ministry explains.
COVID-19 cases have been rising in Europe’s biggest economy since early July, due mainly to the spread of the more infectious Delta variant.