Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended the resolution aimed at for Friday on extended corona test obligations for people entering Germany. "It's about protecting the health of the citizens of this country," said the SPD candidate for chancellor on Thursday evening in the ARD Tagesthemen. According to a draft ordinance by the Federal Ministry of Health this summer, unvaccinated people in particular will have to adjust to changes. It is expected that the broader test obligations will be decided by the cabinet on Friday and then apply from Sunday (August 1st).

In principle, according to the draft, in the future all immigrants from the age of twelve should have a negative test certificate, proof of recovery or proof of a complete vaccination - regardless of where and how they come from. When entering from an area with worrying virus variants, proof of test should be necessary, proof of vaccination or recovery should not be sufficient. You have to pay for any rapid or PCR tests abroad.

"We're all used to being tested, we've been doing that for a very, very long time," argued Scholz.

Many would be tested on vacation anyway, for example because it is necessary for certain activities.

"We have to avoid situations like last year happening again in autumn - vaccination helps us here, but so does testing."

Roßkopf (GdP): 3800 kilometers of land border "hard to master"

In general, the evidence should be carried on entry and presented in the event of "random" checks by the authorities, as stated in the draft. There are no plans to check all people entering the country directly at the border. If you travel with a transport company such as an airline, the evidence should be presented on request before take-off - this has already been the case for air passengers. In cross-border rail traffic, this should also be possible while driving.

The chairman of the Federal Police District of the Police Union (GdP), Andreas Roßkopf, warned in the newspapers of the Funke media group (Friday) of an enormous logistical effort - especially in terms of personnel.

“We have over 3,800 kilometers of land border.

If we are supposed to check them regularly on a random basis, that can hardly be mastered. ”There are also many unanswered questions, for example on trains too.

The chairman of the board of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, told the editorial network Germany (Friday): “Basically welcome as a measure, but unfortunately extremely short-term implementation." did not get vaccinated, and was also brought to the vaccination as a result. "

The German export industry warned against mandatory testing for truck drivers in intra-European goods traffic. “Basically, the endeavors to contain the pandemic are understandable. National solo efforts are the wrong way, especially in freight transport, and would put additional stress on the already tense supply chains, "said the spokesman for the Federal Association of Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA), André Schwarz, of the" Rheinische Post "(Friday). "The mile and day-long traffic jams that we have already experienced are still vividly remembered."

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), corona infections, which probably happened while traveling, play an increasing role in the infection process in Germany. This is what the RKI wrote in its weekly status report submitted on Thursday evening. Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands were most frequently named as the likely infection countries in the four weeks considered from June 28 to July 25, followed by Croatia and Greece. However, the majority of corona transmissions continue to take place within Germany - we are talking of at least 81 percent.

According to the report, virus variants classified as worrying are predominant in Germany and other European countries.

In Germany, the significantly more contagious delta variant is now found in around nine out of ten cases in a sample (91 percent).

The proportion had grown very quickly over the weeks.

According to the RKI, the seven-day incidence in Germany is currently increasing, especially among children, adolescents and young adults between the ages of ten and 34.

By far the highest values ​​for the previous week were recorded for the subgroups of 15 to 19 year olds at 40 and for 20 to 24 year olds at 45.

Above all, people over 60, for whom the vaccination rate is higher than for younger people, have so far been spared the significant increase.

Since the number of infections per 100,000 inhabitants is still low overall within seven days, health authorities can understand many chains of infection, the RKI notes.

According to the RKI, the decline in the number of hospital and intensive care unit cases with Covid-19 does not continue.

Instead, the proportion of patients with this diagnosis in all cases with severe respiratory infections rose slightly last week.

"Overall, however, the values ​​are currently at a low level."

The Bonn behavioral economist Armin Falk campaigned for mandatory vaccination in Germany against the background of increasing numbers of infections.

Those who are not exempt from vaccination for medical reasons are "free riders of the worst kind," said Falk of the FAZ