Germany recorded more than 1,000 daily newcoronavirus cases for the first time in three months.- There were 1,045 new infections in Germany on Thursday, according to the Robert Koch Institute.
- One in five new cases in Germany are believed to originate from abroad.
- Merkel's government is making tests compulsory from all arrivals from "risk zone" countries and regions.
- They include the US, Turkey, and parts of Spain and France. Those who refuse will be fined up to $29,500.
Germany will test all arrivals from "risk zone" countries like the US in an attempt to quell a second wave of the coronavirus that scientists say is already underway.
Health minister Jens Spahn on Thursday said that Germany would make testing compulsory for all arrivals from "risky" countries. These include the US, Turkey, and most countries outside of the European Union, as well as regions within the EU that are witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases, like Luxembourg and parts of France and Spain.
German authorities will set up testing facilities at airports and where roads and railways cross the country's borders. Those who do not take a test will be fined up to €25,000 ($29,500), Spahn warned yesterday.
Germany like other countries of Europe is witnessing a steady but consistent rise in new coronavirus cases.
On Thursday it recorded over 1,000 daily new cases of the COVID-19 virus for the first time since May 7.
There were 1,045 new infections yesterday, according to the Robert Koch Institute, which this week said the upward trend in the recent COVID-19 case numbers was "very concerning."This number is up significantly since mid-July, when Germany was recording daily new cases fewer than 400.
The institute estimates that one in five of Germany's coronavirus cases originates from abroad, compared to just one in 250 cases three months ago, The Times of London newspaper reports.
Marburger Bund, the trade union for doctors and medical students in Germany, this week warned that the country was showing signs of a second wave of the coronavirus after effectively suppressing the virus earlier in the summer.
President Susanne Johna told German media: "We are already in a second, shallow upswing."
Johna emphasised that the second wave was not as severe as the first in March and April, when Germany's health authorities recorded thousands of new cases every day.
However, she warned that the situation would escalate unless people continued to practise good hygiene, wear masks, and observe social distancing, amid warnings that the public was losing interest in adhering to the measures.
"There is a danger that we will lose the successes that we have achieved in Germany so far in a combination of repression and longing for normality," she said. "We all long for normality. But we are in a state that is not normal."
Germany was praised for its early efforts in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. It had recorded 9,175 deaths as of Wednesday morning, a far lower figure than other European countries including France, Spain, Italy, and the UK.
However, the country is bracing itself for the number of cases to continue increasing over the next few weeks, amid concerns that warm weather predicted over the next few days will lead to large crowds of people.
The Times of London this week reported that German hospitals were bracing themselves a challenging autumn as the new cases of COVID-19 rise again, with some regions warning that non-urgent operations may have to be postponed.