The ban on holiday trips abroad, which Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) was considering at times, is now off the table. According to a government spokesman, the test procedure she commissioned has been formally completed. Instead, compulsory testing was introduced.

The reason for this was that after the Balearic Islands were removed from the RKI risk list, the number of bookings around Easter rose sharply. At the same time, hotels in Germany are not allowed to open and some districts are even restricting movement. A general ban on leaving the country for tourist purposes - as practiced, for example, in Belgium and the United Kingdom - would be a tough nut to crack with regard to the Basic Law.

What is new is that people who want to enter Germany by air must present a negative corona test, which must not be older than 48 hours. The airlines have been instructed that if there is no proof, carriage must be refused. The new regulation also applies expressly to so-called non-risk areas and is limited to May 12, 2021.