My application is declined because of covid - true or false? I am looking for an master's internship in Berlin in biology. (background in short: I am a student in another city's university, but because the lectures are online and I have a relative here, I moved to Berlin.) 
I am cold-emailing professors and ask them if I could do an internship at their lab. Some don't answer, some simply decline my application with that because of corona restrictions, they can't accept students. 
Can it be possible or is it just a nice excuse? As far as I know, people can go to work in Berlin. Also, this would be an laboratory internship, so I would have to attend in person.
I suspect it's true. I mean, why lie? In the past, when I've decided I don't have the time or energy for summer interns, I've just replied &quot;Sorry, I am not taking any summer students this year&quot;. They are not under any obligations to take students, so there is no reason to lie.
Most labs currently have strict occupancy and distancing limits. Many researchers are only attending labs under restrictive timetables or on a shift-work basis. Even where there is enough space for those employed at the lab, there may not be space for additional people. Even where there is, teaching people in the lab requires close contact and that might be hard with 2m rules in place. And even if all those problems can be surmounted, an extra person in a room always increases the risk. Why increase the risk for those you are responsible for?
Add into this that many academics are far busier this year than normal, may have extra child care responsibilities, or are trying to catch up with things missed during the pandemic. For example, my postdoc was out of the lab for 6 months. Normally they would look after a summer intern, but they don't have time for that this year as they have 6 months (out of their 3 year contract) to catch up on.