According to the plans of the Federal Ministry of Health, the planned general test obligation when entering Germany is intended to slow down a new, faster corona preparation.

It is necessary “to curb the entry of additional infections and to keep the number of infections low in order to be able to further increase the vaccination rates during this time”, according to a draft regulation from the ministry, which is available to the German press agency.

"The next wave of high numbers of infections to be expected according to current forecasts should be delayed as far back as possible."

According to dpa information, the draft bill as of Wednesday evening was coordinated with other departments in advance, and this is now to be discussed further.

The draft envisages the regulation coming into force on August 1st.

The federal government had recently left the start date of the new regulation open and referred to internal coordination that was still necessary.

In principle, according to the draft, in the future all immigrants from the age of six should have a negative test certificate, proof of recovery or proof of a complete vaccination - regardless of where and how they come to Germany.

When entering from an area with worrying virus variants, proof of test should always be necessary - proof of vaccination or recovery should not be sufficient.

In general, the evidence should be carried on entry and presented in the event of "random" checks by the authorities.

If you travel with a "carrier" like 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.

According to the draft, changes are also planned in the classification of regions with higher risk.

In the future, there will only be two categories instead of three: high-risk areas and virus variant areas.

The previous level of a “simple” risk area is to be dropped.

Pressure from the countries

Recently, more and more country managers had insisted on introducing the corona test obligation for travelers returning as soon as possible.

Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD), who is also chairman of the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK) of the federal states, said in the ZDF morning magazine: "We have no time to lose." .

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) named August 1 as the date on Tuesday evening with a view to an extended test obligation and referred to an assurance from the federal government.

The federal government had left the start date open on Wednesday.

CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt defends that hoteliers only offer rooms for vaccinated people. With increasing numbers of infections, vaccinated people could experience more normality than non-vaccinated people, he told the "Münchner Merkur". "That's why I can understand the decision of hoteliers to make their offer available exclusively to vaccinated people," says the CSU politician. "I believe that in the tourism and event sector, the offer is increasingly focused on the vaccinated and convalescent."

The head of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Social Affairs, Uwe Lahl, is meanwhile in favor of far-reaching easing for fully immunized people. The incidence and the number of hospital admissions are becoming increasingly decoupled, Lahl told the Südwest Presse. "We therefore want to undertake a paradigm shift in the next Corona regulation." The new regulations are to come into force on September 15. The incidence will then take a back seat and no longer serve as a basis for restrictions. "We should drop all restrictions on vaccinated people," Lahl demanded