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Coronavirus: Germany begins to enforce 14-day self-isolation for travellers

Fighting coronavirus in Germany: Anyone coming to Germany from abroad must be subject to a two-week self-quarantine to curb the spread of coronavirus.

If you are thinking of arriving here to spend Easter with your family, you may actually not be able to do so since you are required to strictly observe the new quarantine obligation.

German news agency DPA reports that the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport is informing returning travellers about the new coronavirus quarantine obligation. “As administrative assistance for the health department, we have been handing out an information sheet to all passengers entering the airport since midnight,” said the spokesperson for the airport federal police, Reza Ahmari. “It says that they must go directly to domestic quarantine and report to their local health department.”

The new quarantine obligation approved by the federal and state governments will be in force until 19 April.

Some of the categories exempted from this rule include people who have been abroad for less than 24 hours or certain seasonal workers.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Why Angela Merkel can’t set an end date for lockdown

The coronavirus lockdown will remain in place for unknown period. Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this week said she was not yet ready to set an end date for the nationwide restrictions on public life.

It is “definitely too soon to recognize a definite trend, and it is way too soon to start loosening any of the strict rules we have imposed on ourselves,” Ms Merkel said.

The rise in confirmed coronavirus infections in Germany “is now a bit slower than it was just a few days ago,” Ms Merkel said. “It is true that the latest numbers… as high as they are, very cautiously give a bit of hope,” she said.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has now killed more than 2,373 people in Germany. The total number of infections now stands at 113,525, a new report by the German disease and epidemic control center, Robert Koch Institute (RKI) shows.

READ ALSO: Germany: Coronavirus death toll rises to 2,373