Germany drops air travel to ‘near zero’ and queues pick up at border checkpoints

Germany is considering reducing air travel to ‘near zero’ while queues pick up at border checkpoints.

Chancellor Angela Merkel told legislators of her parties she did not want a travel ban, but with the pandemic this winter there should be no tourism, sources said.

Interior minister Horst Seehofer said earlier in the Bild newspaper that Merkel had asked him to investigate ways to prevent a spate for mutant changes from entering Germany.

The measures considered included closing boundaries with regions where the new variables were more common and reducing the number of visits to near zero.

It comes as long queues of vehicles created at the Czech-German border arrived on Monday when tighter restrictions on travel into Germany came into effect.

Merkel told legislators: ‘As far as possible, tourist travel should not take place. ‘

Merkel has again called for tourism to be reduced at the time of the pandemic, with mixed success.

Seehofer told Bild: ‘The threat posed by these viral mutations prompts us to consider even appalling measures.

They include tighter border controls, especially at borders with high-risk areas, but also reduce air traffic to Germany to near zero, as Israel is currently doing. ‘

Cross-border workers raised frustrations between the Czech Republic and Germany when stricter restrictions on travel came into the latter.

At the Folmava-Furth im Wald border post – where the Iron Curtain once separated East and West – tempers erupted when people waited about two hours to cross what is now a border within the EU.

‘It’s cold and it’s snowing and there aren’t even toilets,’ said Yveta Haladova, a Czech nurse working in Germany.

‘It’s difficult for everyone, including my employer, because we don’t know how long this will last,’ she said.

The car park at the border was full and 150 cars can be seen in the crossing queue. A center for antigen testing was quickly conducted in a practice building.

‘I just got my test and I’m waiting for the result, which should come by SMS or email,’ said Lukas Kottnauer, an automotive business employee.

‘It’s awful, especially since we have to test every 48 hours.’

As the Czech Republic is now considered a high risk by Germany due to a high rate of diseases, anyone who comes across must show a negative coronavirus test result.

For people crossing the border into the German state of Bavaria such as those at the Folmava border post, the test must be taken within the last 48 hours – meaning that travelers must test to do every other day.

Tens of thousands of regular Czechs travel to Germany for work, many of them in health care.

Medical worker Nikole Dzamova said she had been waiting for about an hour and a half.

‘I don’t know if I’ll get into work on time. It’s a big problem for my life because I go back and forth every day, ‘she said.

Miroslava Jozova, who works in an electronics factory, said she was considering an offer from her company to accommodate her in Germany.

‘But that is not possible for anyone with young children to go back to the Czech Republic every day,’ she said.

At border control, German police officer Gerhard Bauemler scared people into disrespecting social distance and smoking in the queue for a test.

Bavaria plans to open faster test centers at various cross-border locations, according to local media.

In the neighboring English state of Saxony, the rule has been relaxed to allow workers to take tests twice a week on the German side, before starting work.