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Munich / Vienna (dpa / lby) - The Austrian authorities want to prevent shopping tourism from Bavaria after the lockdown has ended.
Shops in the neighboring country are allowed to reopen on Monday, the tightening of the entry requirements announced by the Vienna Federal Government has now been implemented in an ordinance and will come into force on Wednesday, February 10th.
This mainly affects commuters.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry does not rule out an intensification of border controls if necessary.
"With regard to the changes to the Covid-19 entry regulation, which will come into force on February 10, 2021, a situation-adapted assessment of the situation will be carried out and, if necessary, appropriate measures will be taken," said a spokesman in Vienna.
Not only police officers, but also soldiers are on Corona at the border.
The Tyrolean provincial government announced in Innsbruck that both police forces and soldiers of the armed forces serving as assistance carry out “health authorities' entry controls”.
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According to the new regulation, not only working people count as commuters, but also schoolchildren and people who regularly visit relatives or life partners in the neighboring country, as the state government of Vorarlberg in Bregenz explains.
Some Bavarian municipalities border directly on their Austrian neighboring municipalities, excursions are easily possible on foot or by bike, at least on snow-free roads.
Simbach in Lower Bavaria and Braunau in Upper Austria are only separated by a bridge over the Danube, and Kiefersfelden in Upper Bavaria is only a stone's throw from the neighboring Tyrolean town of Kufstein.
Unlike in Austria, the end of the lockdown has not yet been announced in Bavaria, but from Monday the following applies: Haircuts are allowed in Braunau and Kufstein, but not in Simbach and Kiefersfelden.
There are also historical and geographical features, such as the Kleinwalsertal in the Allgäu Alps, which belongs to the Austrian state of Vorarlberg.
The local community of Mittelberg and its shops can only be reached by car from Germany.
Another special case is the Vorarlberg community of Jungholz, which is surrounded by German territory as an Austrian island in Bavaria, so to speak.
Another valley that can only be reached by car from Bavaria is the Eng in the Karwendel Mountains.
There is no risk of secret shopping there anyway: the main shopping option is a farmer's shop in Almdorf, which is closed in winter.
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In the event that secret buyers from Bavaria should slip through the meshes of the Austrian authorities, they must expect controls on their return home: «We assume that the border traffic from Bavaria to Austria for shopping and co is prevented, ”said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Munich.
"Of course, our strict rules apply when re-entering the country, in particular those of the Entry Quarantine Ordinance and the obligation to test and register."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210205-99-315507 / 2
Explanation of the Austrian entry regulations including tightening from February 10th on the website of the provincial government of Vorarlberg