German authorities have decided to close their borders with France, Switzerland and Austria from Monday to try to stop the outbreak of the new Corona epidemic, according to a source close to the file, told AFP.
The closure will take effect from 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT), but it will not affect the transport of goods and exclude cross-border workers, according to the source who confirmed information to the Bild newspaper.
One of the reasons for the border closures that the German authorities have spoken about, in addition to controlling the epidemic, is to avoid citizens from neighboring countries coming to buy large quantities of goods from German stores and empty the shelves, in a phenomenon that is spreading.
This procedure does not include other countries bordering Germany, as it is considered at this stage less dangerous in terms of the outbreak of the virus.
Among these countries are Poland, the Czech Republic, and Denmark, which have previously closed their borders to their neighbors and imposed strict restrictions.
The German government had until this stage rejected the idea of ​​resorting to closing the borders, so as not to affect the remainder of the Schengen area of ​​freedom of movement, which faces the immigration crisis and the repercussions of jihadist attacks.
But as the situation deteriorated throughout Europe, which became the main focus of the epidemic in the world, Berlin considered that it only had this option.
