Germany closing its borders to travelers from EU
By John Bowden - 03/18/20 04:13 PM EDT
German officials announced Wednesday that the country will ban travel from European Union (EU) countries as part of the country's efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
A statement from Germany's Transportation Ministry obtained by Politico indicated that several countries would be affected by the ban, but it was reportedly unclear whether all 26 other members of the EU would be affected.
"Today we are taking a further step to protect the population. We are expanding the restrictions on people traveling into the country to travelers from the European member countries — regardless of whether they travel to Germany via air, rail, water or road," Andreas Scheuer, the country's top transportation official, said in the statement.
A separate statement from the country's Interior Ministry indicated that air travel bans would be enforced on travelers from seven countries.
"Border controls are now also taking place in intra-European air and maritime transport. Restrictions on entry are now also in force for flights from Italy, Spain, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Denmark and Switzerland, as well as in maritime transport from Denmark," an Interior Ministry spokesman tweeted.
Grenzkontrollen finden jetzt auch im innereuropäischen Luft- und Seeverkehr statt. Einreisebeschränkungen gelten ab sofort auch bei Flügen aus Italien, Spanien, Österreich, Frankreich, Luxemburg, Dänemark und der Schweiz sowie im Seeverkehr aus Dänemark. #COVID19
— Steve Alter (@BMISprecher) March 18, 2020
Tags Border control Travel ban Coronavirus