Croatia Holidaymakers from Germany who have planned a trip to Istria/Croatia over Easter and for the period after Easter can breathe a sigh of relief: as part of the Video Conference of the German Chancellor with the Heads of Government of the Länder on 22. March 2021 because of the containment of the coronavirus, everything remained the same for them. That is, Istria is not currently (as of March 23, 2021) considered a Corona risk area, so both quarantine and digital travel notification continue to be waived when returning to Germany.
Germany: Mallorca tourism causes concern
The reason for the discussions about possible restrictions on entry was the focus on Mallorca. Because of low incidence figures (about 21 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week), airlines had resumed flights to Mallorca, and within a very short time more than 8,000 vacationers, mainly from Germany, were already setting out to visit the Balearic island. Here one fears now a spreading of the Coronavirus infection and demands consistent tests of the air passengers with the return journey to Germany. Not quite wrongly, because on Mallorca the incidence figures are rising again and the indoor gastronomy has already been closed again by the authorities.
Car journey to Istria without problems
Since it was in the decision, however, primarily about air travel, especially to Mallorca, holidaymakers with destination Istria currently have little to fear, because they travel mainly overland with their own cars. It is not yet clear whether the issue of “car travel” will also be taken into account in the planned amendment to the German Infection Protection Act.
There is a persistent rumor in the tourism industry that rapid tests for entry into Germany could become standard in just a few days. Not only are they significantly cheaper and easier to handle, but as the name suggests, they also provide fairly reliable results quickly, so this solution will bring a little more normality to travel.
Wording of the decision by the heads of the countries
Here is the passage of the resolution from the conference of German heads of state governments relevant for tourists traveling to Croatia:
Paragraph 9: The Federal Government and the Länder continue to appeal urgently to all citizens to refrain from nonessential travel within Germany and also abroad – also with regard to the upcoming Easter holidays. They emphatically point out that when entering the country from foreign risk areas, it is mandatory to register in the digital entry notification and that quarantine is compulsory for a period of 10 days after return.
Early termination of quarantine is possible only by a negative test taken no earlier than the 5th day after entry. Due to the longer duration of infection by virus variants, which has now been described in many cases, this expressly does not apply to return journeys from virus variant areas since 8 March. Here, a quarantine of 14 days must be strictly observed. In addition, limited transport possibilities are to be expected when returning from virus variant areas.
The emergence of various Covid 19 variants and their worldwide spread have shown that cross-border travel must continue to be limited to the absolute minimum necessary. As vacationers from numerous countries can be expected to converge, especially at popular vacation destinations, and Covid-19 variants can spread easily, the federal and state governments expect all airlines to conduct consistent testing of crews and passengers prior to return flights and not to further expand flights during the Easter vacations. The German government will present an amendment to the Infection Protection Act, according to which, in view of the global pandemic, general testing prior to departure will become a prerequisite for entry on flights to Germany.
