As in the previous year, travelers returning during the holiday season are causing an increase in the number of infections. Two thirds of the new infections in Berlin were found among returnees from Turkey.
Berlin – In Berlin, the summer holidays are already coming to an end, while in other federal states they have just started or are just starting. In the capital, the effects of returning travelers on the number of new corona infections are already evident.
| Country: | Turkey |
| Capital city: | Ankara |
| Population: | 83,614,362 (estimate December 31, 2020) |
| Official language: | Turkish |
The Berlin medical officer Patrick Larscheid explains in the “Tagesspiegel” that especially those returning from Turkey currently account for a large proportion of new infections. The number of infections there is at its highest level since mid-May.
Incidence in Turkey is increasing – more than 14,000 new infections over the weekend
Last Friday, the Turkish Ministry of Health reported a total of 11,094 new infections. Within one day, 60 people died in connection with Covid-19. After the weekend, the number of new infections was 14,230 (as of July 26). Most recently, the values were at a comparatively high value in mid-May.
At the beginning of July, the exit restrictions in the 82 million-inhabitant country were lifted because of the pandemic. Since then, the number of cases has increased again.
Those returning from risk areas influence the number of infections
Overall, the corona cases in connection with trips abroad are also increasing. A similar development was also evident last year since the start of the travel season. This year, however, a distinction is also made between “simple” risk areas, high incidence areas and virus variant areas in travel destinations. All three lists are long and certain rules apply to vacations in affected regions *.
People who have been in a risk area in the last 10 days before entering Germany must, among other things, fill out a digital entry form, be able to prove a negative test, if not vaccinated or recovered, and go into quarantine after arrival. On July 28th, however, a new entry regulation comes into force, which, among other things, should ease the quarantine requirement.
In Hamburg, according to the health authority, people returning from travel accounted for around a quarter of new corona infections in the past week. Like Berlin, Hamburg is about to end the summer vacation. Most of the vacations have already ended and the travelers have returned. The vacation spots included Spain * and the Netherlands *, which were previously considered simple areas, but from July 27th they were already considered high-incidence areas.
Corona infections in Turkey have reached their highest level since May – Antalya is also a popular travel destination in Lower Saxony
The holidays began last Thursday in Lower Saxony. A spokesman for Hanover Airport said the most popular are Mallorca and Antalya, but also the other hot water holiday destinations on the Spanish mainland and in Turkey.
Everything about the Mediterranean such as Greece and the Canary Islands are in great demand. Mallorca is also a high incidence area as a Balearic island from Tuesday, July 27th, Greece was declared a simple risk area on July 18th *. How the infection numbers will affect holidaymakers in Lower Saxony will become clear at the end of the holidays.
Appeal in the holiday country and demand for more spontaneous possibilities for vaccination
According to the medical officer Larscheid, people returning from Turkey made up two thirds of those who tested positive in Berlin. The holidays end there on August 6th. Larscheid demanded that people get vaccinated before a trip and that there should be more offers for spontaneous vaccination, since the “time of these big vaccination campaigns” was over. Vaccination is also called for in Turkey. The federal government has classified the country as a simple risk area since June 6th. A country is only considered a high incidence area if an incidence of more than 200 has been reached. Turkey is still a long way from this with a value of just under 95 (as of July 26).
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca recently urged his compatriots to get vaccinated. Turkey uses the vaccines from the Chinese manufacturer Sinovac and Biontech / Pfizer. About 46 percent of the population have received at least one dose of vaccine. More than a quarter – 26 percent – are fully vaccinated. The proportion of the more contagious Delta variant is also increasing in Turkey. How much percentage this currently accounts for has not yet been announced. With material from the dpa . * Kreiszeitung.de and merkur.de are offers from IPPEN.MEDIA.
Rubriklistenbild: © Mirjam Schmitt / picture alliance / dpa
