appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Stuart Lau

Germany will on Monday close parts of its land border, including the one with France, citing the need to curb the spread of coronavirus and stop foreigners buying food at border towns.
The drastic response to the Covid-19 pandemic sees Germany and France, the European Union’s first and second largest economies, partially cut off for the first time since the end of World War II.
The German border closure will also affect Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg and Switzerland from 8am on Monday in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Sunday.
Seehofer added that cross-border commuters and goods would not be affected.


The measures are also intended to stop foreigners from purchasing excessive amounts of products in German stores, according to news media reports.
“We therefore ask all citizens not to undertake non-compulsory trips,” said Seehofer.
Only the borders with Belgium, the Netherlands and Liechtenstein remain open, as Germany’s other neighbours – Poland and the Czech Republic – have already imposed a lockdown.

Paris, meanwhile, said the decision had been taken in coordination with the French government.
Yet the French interior ministry also insisted that the border would not be fully closed.
“We are going to limit border crossings to the strict minimum, while allowing people and merchandise to go through. It’s not a closure,” a ministry source said.
Germany had until now resisted closing its borders so as not to endanger the Schengen agreement, which guarantees free travel between European countries and has already been put under strain in recent years by the migrant crisis and the threat of jihadist terrorism.
Border closures ‘may show what a full-blown trade war looks like’
But with Europe now considered to be the epicentre of the pandemic, calls to close the border with France had begun to emerge soon before Sunday’s decision.
“The spread of the virus has to be slowed. The basic rule should be: anyone who doesn’t urgently need to cross the border should not cross the border,” said Thomas Strobl, interior minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg state, which borders France and Switzerland.
Germany is one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with 4,585 confirmed infections. Nine people have died.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotels sees ‘bleisure’ boom after pandemic curbs, CEO says

US could require US$15,000 bonds for some tourist, business visas

China’s Shenzhen, Guangzhou airports hit record highs, surpass pre-Covid passenger levels

Landmark US Chinatown survived Covid, anti-Asian violence – but tariffs pose new threat

Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: Germany to close borders with France, Austria and Switzerland

German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers an address. Photo: dpa

13 March 2020, Berlin: (L-R) Hendrik Hoppenstedt, Minister of State for Cooperation between the Federal Government and the Laender, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz, German Minister of Finance and Jens Spahn, German Minister of Health, a meeting with the leading associations of German business and the trade unions at the Federal Chancellery. Photo: John Macdougall/POOl AFP/dpa

Coronavirus: border closures ‘may show what a full-blown trade war looks like’

Italy, the country hardest hit by the pandemic after China, has been placed under lockdown. Photo: DPA

Coronavirus: France to shut cafes, restaurants and cinemas

People gather at a cafe terrace in Le Touquet. Photo: AFP

People gather at a cafe's terrace in Le Touquet, on March 14, 2020. - France on March 14, 2020 drastically stepped up its measures against the spread of the coronavirus, announcing the closure of all non-essential public places including restaurants and cafes from midnight (2300 GMT). (Photo by Ludovic Marin / AFP)

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (L) speaks, flanked by French Director General of Health Jerome Salomon (R), as he announces new measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, the new coronavirus, on March 14, 2020, in Paris. - The French prime minister announced the closure of all "places receiving public that are not essential to the life of the country", calling on the French to "more discipline" in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Restaurants, bars, discotheques and cinemas are called on to close their doors. Businesses are also affected, with the exception of food stores, pharmacies, banks, tobacconists and petrol stations. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

Coronavirus: Germany to close borders with France, Austria and Switzerland

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Closures are due to take effect at 8am on Monday morning

Closures are due to take effect at 8am on Monday morning