Vacationing Abroad Will Be Difficult: These travel warnings are now in...

There is a curfew in Paris, weddings are banned in Warsaw, and the army is building a hospital in Prague. New Corona measures will come into force in many countries on Saturday. This means that the number of possible foreign destinations for German tourists is shrinking.

Due to the skyrocketing number of corona infections in Europe, travel warnings for other regions in 15 EU countries have been in effect since Saturday. The Netherlands, mainland France, Malta and Slovakia are now all corona risk areas for which the Federal Foreign Office warns against tourist travel. For the first time, popular tourist regions in Italy with Campania and Liguria as well as five areas in Poland including the metropolises of Gdansk and Krakow are on the risk list. In addition, there are eight cantons in Switzerland, including the canton of Zurich bordering Germany, areas in Sweden and Finland for the first time, and further regions in Great Britain, Ireland, Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia and Hungary.

The federal government had already decided on Thursday to expand the risk list with effect from Saturday. The classification as a risk area occurs when a country or region exceeds the limit of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days. The automatically linked travel warnings do not mean a travel ban, but are intended to have the greatest possible deterrent effect on tourists.

The good thing for vacationers: they can cancel a trip that has already been booked if their destination is declared a risk area. The bad: Returnees from risk areas currently still have to be in quarantine for 14 days, but can be freed from it prematurely with a negative corona test. Many countries in Europe will again introduce stricter restrictions on public life this Saturday. An overview:

France: The health emergency came into force again in France on Saturday. In several French cities, including Paris, curfews also apply from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturday. Exceptions apply to people who go to work or come home from work. Because of medical emergencies, caring for relatives or to walk the dog, people are also allowed to go outside during curfew. You must then have a corresponding form with you. If you want to go to the train station or airport, you have to show the corresponding ticket. In addition, private celebrations such as weddings in ballrooms or other public places are no longer permitted nationwide.

Around 12,000 police officers are to be deployed to monitor curfews in the metropolises. If you don’t follow the rules, you’ll have to pay a fine of 135 euros. For repeat offenders, several thousand euros can be charged. Bars are already completely closed in many cities, including Paris. In France, the health authority reported 30,621 newly recorded infections on Thursday evening. There was a new peak value within a day since the start of the large-scale corona testing in France. The number of deaths rose to 33,125. Around 67 million people live in France.

Great Britain: In the British capital, London, stricter corona rules will apply from Saturday. In view of the rapidly increasing number of infections, members of different households are no longer allowed to meet indoors. Meetings in pubs or restaurants are also prohibited. Meetings of up to six people are still allowed outdoors. With the new measures, the capital slips into the second highest level in England’s three-level warning level system. Several London districts had exceeded the threshold of 100 corona cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past few days. In Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England, however, the numbers are significantly higher and even stricter measures are in place.

Poland: As of Saturday, more than 150 regions across the country, including the capital Warsaw and several other large cities, will be declared red zones, with stricter requirements. Wedding celebrations will be banned there in future, swimming pools and fitness clubs will be closed. Restaurants are only allowed to be open for guests from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., after which time they can only offer their meals to take away. Schools are moving back to distance learning. On Thursday, the Ministry of Health announced that the number of new infections registered daily had exceeded the 8,000 mark for the first time. 8,099 new cases were added within 24 hours, most of them in the region around the capital Warsaw (1306). During the same period, 91 people died from the virus. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 3,308 deaths related to Covid-19 in Poland. Poland has around 38 million inhabitants, about half as many as Germany.

Czech Republic: In the Prague exhibition halls, the army will start building a field hospital on Saturday. It is to be kept as a reserve with a capacity of up to 500 beds in case the hospitals become overloaded. The advantage in the approaching winter is that the exhibition halls can be heated. Critics from medical circles noted that the problem is not the number of beds available, but the lack of nursing staff. Far-reaching restrictions came into force in the Czech Republic on Wednesday. For example, schools and restaurants were closed. A maximum of six people are allowed to meet both inside and outside. There is a strict ban on alcohol in public.

Austria: In Austria, the place Kuchl in the Salzburger Land will be quarantined from Saturday due to the new corona infections. With a few exceptions, entry and exit from the community with around 7,000 inhabitants is no longer allowed until November 1, said Salzburg’s regional chief Wilfried Haslauer on Thursday.