Germany considering further travel restrictions and dramatic reduction in air traffic
From CNN s Claudia Otto
A medical worker in Schönefeld, Germany, takes a Covid-19 swab sample from a passenger at a testing station in Berlin Brandenburg Airport on November 26, 2020. Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Germany is considering further travel restrictions and a dramatic reduction in air traffic due to fears about new mutations of coronavirus, an Interior Ministry spokesperson told CNN.
The Interior Ministry is in talks with the German federal government to consider halting all unnecessary travel. The threat posed by the numerous virus mutations requires us to also consider drastic measures and discuss them in the Federal Government, said Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer in a statement. These include significantly stricter border controls, especially at the borders to high-risk areas, but also the reduction of air traffic to Germany to almost zero, as Israel is currently doin
InfoMigrants By InfoMigrants Published on : 2021/01/21
Last year, Germany granted far fewer family reunifications for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection than would have been possible by legal means. However, according to a Left Party politician, this isn t entirely the fault of the COVID-19 lockdown.
A total of 5,311 relatives of beneficiaries of subsidiary protection have been granted visas to come to Germany under the family reunification program. This was reported as the response of the federal government to a parliamentary question submitted by the Left Party in the Bundestag (German Parliament) earlier.
In the fall of 2018, the German government had agreed that up to 1,000 people could join their families each month, capping the quota at 12,000 per year.
The Hofbraeu in Berlin
Credit: Markus Schreiber/AP
German Health Minister Jens Spahn has indicated that private businesses may be able to ban customers who haven t been vaccinated.
Speaking with tabloid Bild on Wednesday, Mr Spahn appeared to walk back earlier comments stating that those who had been vaccinated would not receive special privileges.
He said on Wednesday that while public institutions like hospitals, town halls or public transport would not be legally allowed to refuse those who have not been vaccinated, such distinctions could be legal in the private sector.
Mr Spahn said he believed that “it would be possible” under German law for a pizzeria to serve only vaccinated people.