COVID-19 variant: Germany to ban flights

Germany is contemplating ending almost all incoming flights from nations affected by COVID-19 variants, but of what is agreed at EU level.

Talks are continuing within the EU about how countries could implement further limitations, but the Interior Ministry of Germany said on Thursday, “if no satisfactory means are decided at EU level,” the country would act at a national level.

Federal Interior Minister Seehofer had raised the hope of cutting air traffic to Germany “to almost zero,” as he proposed "drastic measures" would be needed, but on Thursday told a news organization new measures would focus on air traffic with the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa, and Portugal.

"We are also concentrating on the mutation zones for this proposed travel restriction," he said, adding a draft law would be given to the German government on Friday.

"We are trying to define which country is a changing zone, which is less a political choice than a technical one,” he said, indicating more countries could be attached to the list.

Germany's lockdown bringing numbers down

Germany has registered nearly 2.2 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 55,000 deaths.

In the first wave beginning in March, the country seemed to have left the worst of the virus, unlike many of its neighbors such as France and Italy.

But it achieved a national lockdown in mid-December, with officials worried as they began to see record cases, reaching a high on December 18 with 33,777.

This lockdown saw the end of all non-essential businesses and schools.