Germany to Step up Border Controls

Germany is to step up border restrictions with the French department of Moselle, which on Sunday, was added to the country’s list of “areas of the variant of concern”.

The list was compiled by the Robert Koch Institute for disease control in Berlin.

Such areas are subject to entry bans with only a few exceptions, for example, for lorry drivers and certain key workers.

The travel restrictions for Moselle are to take effect from Tuesday.

Fifteen other countries and regions have been declared risk areas by Germany due to the spread of dangerous new coronavirus strains, including the Czech Republic and Tyrol in Austria.

Entry bans, targeting those areas, caused long tailbacks on motorways leading to the German border earlier this month.

The tough restrictions have been slammed by the European Commission as disproportionate and not in line with an agreed EU-wide framework.