Germany Reimposes Border Controls With Czechia and Austria Due to COVID-19
Germany has temporarily closed its borders for Czechia and Austria citizens, after a surge in the number of Coronavirus infections identified recently in both countries.
Border restrictions that took effect on Sunday, February 14, have been considered as an unavoidable preventive measure to be imposed, in order to contain the new strains of the virus from further spreading, according to Health Minister Jens Spahn, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
“We have to protect our country from further viruses. We only reach for these measures when there are really no others,” Spahn pointed out.
Commuters in the Czech Republic and Austrian border regions which will also be affected by Germany’s latest move have raised their concerns regarding the issue.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer emphasized that the country’s authorities have been urged to impose such restrictions by the states of Saxony and Bavaria.
However, authorities in Germany have clarified that checkpoints will be established while trade links will be permitted to continue. The administration also announced that there would be further exemptions introduced.
The government has been urged to take such decisions as the South African COVID-19 variant was detected in the Tyrol region in Austria, while the British variant of the disease was recently found in the Czech Republic.
Germany is among the ten most affected countries worldwide by the Coronavirus pandemic. The health authorities have reported 2,333,475 cases of infections and 65,266 deaths. Over 2,111,000 persons have been recovered while 156,209 persons have died, as yet.
In Austria, 432,303 persons have contracted the Coronavirus, and 8,195 have died, according to Worldometers statistics.
As for the Czech Republic, the virus has infected over 1,082,840 persons, and 18,058 have died, up to this point.
Earlier this month, authorities of the German State of Bavaria raised their concerns regarding the relaxation of lockdown measures imposed previously by the Austrian government in a bid to halt the spread of the Coronavirus.
Bavarian authorities threatened to close the southern border with Austria, calling Austria’s decision “irresponsible behavior”.
Last year in November 2020, Germany’s Ministry of Interior prolonged frontier checks with Austria, which were set to expire on November 11, for another six months, due to migration and security policy.
