Acting Head of Mission at the Zambian Embassy in Berlin, Germany, Mrs. Dorcas Chileshe has urged Zambians traveling or intending to travel to Germany to be aware of the increased travel requirements following a spike in coronavirus cases, by Diramakini Reporter.
Mrs. Chileshe says the measures are in response to a second wave of coronavirus infections which has hit many parts of Europe and other parts of the world, Zambia included.
Accrording to statement issued in Berlin by First Secretary-Press and Public Relations, Kelly Kaunda, for those intending to travel to Germany from high-risk areas, they will be required to submit two negative test results.
Even when the first test result is negative, they will be required to go into a minimum five-day-mandatory quarantine.
If one is traveling within Germany, residents from COVID-19 hotspots will be restricted from traveling more than 15km away from their own town without a valid reason. This affects areas where there are 200 cases per 100,000 residents.
Contact at private meetings will be restricted to only one person from a different household. Parents are to receive an extra 10 days leave to care for their children while single parents will receive 20 days.
These measures will remain in force to the end of January but will come up for review by the Federal government in conjunction with state governments on January 25.
Mrs. Chileshe has urged Zambians to cooperate with the German authorities saying the measures are intended to save lives.
“I urge all Zambians to continue wearing their face masks, regularly washing hands with soap and hand sanitizing while keeping social distances”, Mrs. Chileshe says.
In December, German authorities announced a partial lockdown with measures that included the closure of all non-essential shops and services along with schools and day care centers while students moved their studies to online platforms.
Private meetings were restricted to a maximum of five people from two different households while employers were and still are encouraged to allow their employees to work from home.
48hours ago, Germany recorded almost 11,900 new infections with 944 COVID-19 deaths, numbers that have necessitated the measures taken by authorities as they indicate that the pandemic still poses significant challenges to manage.