The Federal German Minister of Interior Horst Seehofer has decided to reintroduce border controls in at the checkpoints with five other Schengen countries, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark in a bid to fight a further spread of the novel CVOID-19.
The decision was taken on Sunday and started implementing on Monday at 8 am.
“The spread of the coronavirus is progressing quickly and aggressively…one of the most important measures will be to cut off the chain of infection,” Minister Seehofer told reporters as he announced the new border controls.
He also asked all citizens of Germany to avoid non-essential trips, while pointing out that those who must travel have to present appropriate evidence that shows the need to cross the border.
According to a press release of the German Ministry of Interior, the decision has been taken by Minister Seehofer in coordination with the neighbouring countries and the federal states concerned.
The cross-border movement of goods and the cross-border movement of commuters remain guaranteed. Travellers without a valid travel reason are no longer allowed to enter and exit at the named borders.
The Minister has also sent a corresponding notification letter today, on the reintroduction of temporary border controls based on Article 28 of the Schengen Border Code to the European Commission and the interior ministers of the EU countries.
As of March 16, the number of detected persons with the COVID-19 in Germany is 6,248, with 13 deaths. Whereas, the total number of reported coronavirus cases in the world is over 173 thousand and almost 7,000 deaths.
Currently, Germany has reintroduced borders with Austria, due to security reasons, which are set to expire in May.
At the beginning of March, a task force of the government had announced that all travellers coming from countries where the number of those touched by the disease is higher, would have to present proof on their health status upon arrival at the German port of entry.