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Germany extends travel warning to curb coronavirus spread

Germany has extended the global travel warning until at least June 14. The Cabinet made the decision after reaching an agreement that the current conditions do not yet meet the preconditions for foreign travel.

The ban is applicable to all non-essential foreign travel, particularly tourist travel,.

Before that date the Cabinet will review the matter against the backdrop of the approaching peak travel season, and decide how to proceed.

All Germans and people living in Germany are warned against all non-essential tourist foreign travel, since travellers can expect to find quarantine measures in place worldwide along with drastic restrictions on both public life and air and other transport services.

The worldwide travel warning issued as a measure to fight the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) means that travellers can now cancel upcoming package deals free of charge.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas recently warned that holidaymakers could not expect to take summer vacations like they used to. He also warned that the federal government’s repatriation measure for stranded tourists could not be repeated abroad, DW reported.

Meanwhile checks at the internal borders with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Denmark, Italy and Spain will continue until 4 May 2020.

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Checks at the land borders with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark were temporarily reintroduced effective 16 March 2020 on the basis of Article 28 of the Schengen Borders Code.

Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer also informed the European Commission that he has ordered the temporary checks at the German–Austrian land border to continue for another six months, starting 12 May 2020, for migration and security policy reasons and based on Articles 25 to 27 of the Schengen Borders Code. The checks are still needed due to the situation along the border between Greece and Turkey, which remains highly volatile, and to the continuing potential for illegal migration along the Balkan route.