Fear of the delta variant of the corona virus is also growing in Germany, and calls for stricter controls for returnees are getting louder.

Several prime ministers had called for stricter regulations in order to reduce the entry of the Delta variant into Germany.

On Monday lunchtime, the heads of the state chancelleries discussed this with Chancellery Minister Helge Braun (CDU).

However, the heads of the state chancelleries cannot pass resolutions on this.

It was an exchange of views, it was said after the meeting.

Regardless of party affiliations, some heads of the state chancellery had called for significant tightening of the entry rules, others rejected them.

Reinhard Bingener

Political correspondent for Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen based in Hanover.

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    Heike Schmoll

    Political correspondent in Berlin, responsible for the “educational worlds”.

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      Matthias Wyssuwa

      Political correspondent for Northern Germany and Scandinavia based in Hamburg.

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        Chancellor Angela Merkel has refused to close borders with European neighbors such as France.

        These steps were "something very tough," she said on Monday at a meeting of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.

        The border controls last year were a test for Europe without borders.

        "I think we have learned our lesson from this on how we can also cooperate better regionally and coordinate ourselves," said Merkel.

        Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) rejects stationary border controls during the vacation period, but supports all precautions for a close-knit test strategy for returnees from risk areas.

        Anyone entering by plane, train, ship or bus must be able to fill in the digital entry form and be able to present it on request.

        The local health authorities could control more strictly decentralized, said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) of the FAZ. The corresponding competence lies with the federal states.

        Quarantine at your own expense

        Government spokesman Steffen Seibert referred to the efforts of the federal government to achieve a uniform regulation for dealing with entries from virus variant areas. "Where this uniformity does not exist, we continue to promote it," he said. The British newspaper The Times reported that Merkel was planning an indirect holiday ban for Britons in the EU. All tourists from Great Britain would have to go into a fortnightly quarantine after entry. Merkel is only supported by French President Emmanuel Macron, the southern European countries do not want to damage their tourism.

        When entering Germany, a test is mandatory for all flights. When entering from a high incidence area (more than 200 newly infected people within seven days with less than 100,000 inhabitants), proof of vaccination or convalescence must also be presented. The legal basis for nationwide entry regulations is the Corona Entry Ordinance, which was changed on June 9th. It now includes the original Corona Entry Ordinance, the Corona Protection Ordinance and the Model Quarantine Ordinance. The federal government hopes that the changes will result in a nationwide obligation to register, quarantine and test evidence as well as a nationwide ban on transport from virus variant areas, which currently include Russia and Portugal in particular.

        Anyone entering from a risk area (incidence of more than 50) must go into quarantine immediately after their return at their own expense.

        The quarantine period for risk areas is ten days, for virus variant areas it is 14 days.

        Returnees from risk areas can bypass the quarantine if they submit a negative antigen test to the competent authority.

        When returning from a high-incidence area, testing is only possible five days after entry.

        When returning from virus variant areas, there is no way to get tested.

        "Samples are not enough"

        Berlin's governing mayor Michael Müller (SPD) said on ZDF that the samples currently being checked by the federal police were not enough. He is therefore clearly in favor of stricter rules, said the current chairman of the conference of prime ministers.

        Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) also called for stricter requirements for those returning from abroad on Monday. "Anyone who comes to Germany should currently have tested negative," Weil told the German Press Agency and recalled the experience last summer when there was an increase in the number of infections after the travel time. “We should learn from this.” Anyone who returns by plane, train or car should be tested twice if there is no complete vaccination protection. "This is currently possible without a lot of effort - and you should also be able to request random checks from the federal authorities at this point," said Weil. "I think the federal government has to take action."

        Hamburg's First Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) spoke out in the newspaper Die Welt in favor of tightening the entry regulations. In the current version it is "too lax in several places". Tschentscher criticized above all that a one-time antigen test is enough to avoid quarantine when entering from risk areas. Instead, he advocated that non-vaccinated travelers returning from areas with a high incidence should generally go to quarantine, from which they could only free themselves after five days at the earliest - and only with a negative PCR test. Tschentscher said on ZDF that another lockdown must be avoided. “And we don't see all of this until autumn, when the seasonal effect subsides and the viruses then have it easier again.