Germany considers cutting international air traffic 'to almost zero'

Germany is considering closing its skies almost completely to international air traffic to slow the spread of more infectious strains of coronavirus, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Tuesday. "The danger from the numerous virus mutations forces us to consider drastic measures," Seehofer told Bild newspaper. "That includes significantly stricter border checks, especially at the borders of high-risk areas, but also reducing air travel to Germany to almost zero, as Israel is currently doing," he added. Chancellor Angela Merkel, addressing a meeting of lawmakers from her conservative CDU/CSU bloc, said citizens had a right to expect that the government would take "certain precautions at border", participants said. "Everyone understands that now is not the time to travel," she was quoted as saying. The German Travel Association (DRV), however, objected to restricting travel more.<br/>