Germany issued an unprecedented warning against all foreign travel in mid-March.
Berlin:
Germany will lift its travel warning for European countries from June 15, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday as the continent seeks to further loosen restrictions on containing the coronavirus.
Germany issued an unprecedented warning against all foreign travel in mid-March. But with new infections falling sharply, the government is looking for ways to revive the economy.
“We have decided today that the travel warning for the designated country circle will not be continued but replaced by travel advice,” said Maas, referring to EU countries, other Schengen countries and to Great Britain.
The individual opinion will cover 31 countries in total, “provided there is no longer a large-scale entry ban or foreclosure in the respective countries,” he said.
The notice could still include warnings against traveling to certain countries, such as Norway and Spain, which still have their own entry restrictions in place.
Germany will be watching the contagion data very carefully, Maas added, saying that warnings could be reintroduced if new infections reach 50 per 1,000,000 people in a week in the country.
Germany reported only 342 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, up from more than 6,000 a day at the height of new infections in March.
“Soft restart”
The European Union announced in May a gradual resumption of travel this summer, when EU border controls were finally lifted and measures to minimize the risk of infection, such as wearing face masks on shared transport .
Some countries have already started to reopen their borders in order to revive the struggling tourism industry.
Italy reopened to European travelers on Wednesday and Austria lifts restrictions in mid-June with Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
German tour operator TUI announced Wednesday that it will resume flights to popular holiday destinations, with the first flight scheduled for Portugal on June 17, according to the Business Insider (BI) news site.
“Our main destinations will be the Balearic Islands, the Canaries, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus,” the boss of Germany, Marek Andryszak, told BI.
However, Foreign Minister Maas continued to urge caution.
“I know there is much hope and expectation in this decision, but I want to reiterate: travel warnings are not travel bans, and travel advice is not an invitation to travel,” said said Maas.
He also warned that Germany would not repeat its unprecedented and costly efforts to save stranded Germans around the world in the first weeks of the pandemic.
In Berlin, residents were divided on whether lifting the travel warning was a good idea.
“If I fly somewhere, I will be afraid to come back because it may get worse and they will close the borders again,” said Regina, a resident of Berlin.
Another, Henri, was more optimistic: “There are masks, so I’m not afraid. I mean, I don’t understand what it is anyway.”
Germany still has a travel warning in place for Turkey, Ukraine and the Western Balkans.
The government will examine this issue after a decision expected from the European Commission next week on whether to extend entry restrictions to citizens of third countries, said Maas.
Other countries, such as Belgium and Great Britain, advise against or prohibit all non-essential travel abroad.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
