Germany to close its border with Czech Republic at midnight Saturday

Germany will close its border with the Czech Republic as of midnight Saturday after designating the country as "very high risk" due to the growing number of variant coronavirus cases on Czech territory.

Only Czech health workers will be allowed to enter the country, with a negative PCR test and on the condition that they can only drive to their place of work and back.

Saxony has said it will also make an exception for cross-border workers in agriculture.

The German authorities ascribe the higher number of coronavirus cases in the border regions to the presence of Czech cross-border workers in these areas.