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A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior has confirmed plans to prepare entry bans for travelers from Great Britain, Brazil and South Africa.

A corresponding template is currently being coordinated in the federal government, said a spokesman for the Reuters news agency.

The background is that highly contagious virus mutations have been found in these countries.

The federal government had warned against spreading in Germany.

It is conceivable that there could also be entry bans for other countries in which virus mutants have already spread more widely.

A template for a corresponding regulation should already be in coordination between the departments.

The interior expert of the FDP in the Bundestag, Stephan Thomae, told the "Augsburger Allgemeine" that considerations for far-reaching travel restrictions are an expression of "government failure." "The corona virus and its mutants are extremely dangerous, nevertheless we are not at war." He demanded, to offer more rapid corona tests at national borders and airports.

Corona test already necessary

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Even now, travelers from high-risk areas are not allowed to be transported to Germany without a negative Corona test.

When traveling by plane, the airline is obliged to check the test result before departure.

"High-risk areas" are countries where the so-called incidence value is more than 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days.

Countries with a particular spread of the virus mutants that are considered highly contagious are also listed.

The entire list can be found on the website of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). 

German citizens should not be affected by the planned ban.

There should also be exceptions for commuters and diplomats.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had already recommended stricter rules for vacation travel on Tuesday.

Several Union politicians joined in on Wednesday.

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The chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in Baden-Württemberg, Wolfgang Reinhart, told WELT: “It cannot be that highly dangerous virus mutations are brought into Germany through flights.” The CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bavarian parliament, Thomas Kreuzer, said: “ In order for restriction measures to be successful in one's own country, permanent introduction of the virus from abroad must be prevented. "

Mutation already widespread

There are already strict entry restrictions in other countries.

Portugal suspended all flight connections with Brazil on Wednesday, where a new corona mutant was recently discovered.

Norway announced that it would close its borders to almost all foreigners from Thursday at midnight.

Finland banned all unnecessary travel by air.

The British government also announced tightening.

In the future, British travelers returning from high-risk areas would have to go into hotel quarantine for ten days, said Interior Minister Priti Patel in Parliament in London.

When exactly the regulation should come into force, she did not say. 

The new variants of the corona virus have recently spread to more and more countries.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the mutant initially registered in Great Britain has now been detected in 70 countries.