Mallorca vacation – if everyone is flying now, we can forget about summer vacation

Since March 14th, the Robert Koch Institute Mallorca and individual regions of mainland Spain and other holiday countries such as Portugal and Denmark are no longer among the corona risk countries. A sigh of relief not only for the travel industry, but also for many Germans who are ready for a vacation and who, after months of lockdown, want nothing more than to finally get back on a plane and enjoy the sun, beach and sea. It is therefore hardly surprising that the news brought Mallorca a boom – the booking volume increased tenfold in the package travel sector alone.

But the downside was not long in coming. Because the fact that Mallorca and other regions have been taken off the risk list and there is no longer a travel warning should not be understood as an invitation to pack your suitcases: "Our appeal continues to refrain from unnecessary trips," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Monday. The rising incidence and new infections in the country could quickly undo the first steps in opening it, he warned.

For this reason, domestic tourism is to be delayed even longer – when hotels and restaurants are allowed to reopen, a decision is to be made at the next Prime Minister's Conference on March 22nd at the earliest.

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Mallorca could quickly become a hotspot again

The epidemiologist and physician Timo Ulrichs from Berlin also sees the fact that opening up tourism is not a good idea at the moment. "To travel over Easter, I think it is extremely questionable," he explains in an interview with FOCUS Online. "If we all travel from the risk area Germany to Mallorca now, the virus will travel with us and the island will quickly become a hotspot again – even hygiene concepts cannot prevent that," warns the doctor.

In addition, one should not forget the entry of holidaymakers from other countries with a similarly high infection rate as in Germany: "The risk that holiday trips will bring new variants to Germany is high, especially since there is no quarantine when returning from non-risk areas", leads Ulrichs.

Traveling too early carries the risk that we will have to lock everything up again

Travel plays an important role, especially when it comes to the spread of mutations. "The British variant B.1.1.7, which is currently giving us increasing numbers, also came to us by plane."

The epidemiologist also points out: “If we have a high number of entries, for example in schools, again through traveling during the Easter holidays, we risk having to do everything again. That's exactly what we want to prevent. "

Summer vacation shouldn't be a problem – but only under certain conditions

Epidemiologist Ulrichs is far less pessimistic about the summer. "Until then, I'm confident that we're on the safe side," he says. "We are gradually coming into the warm season, the UV radiation is high and we are outside a lot – these are simply good prerequisites for our vacation to work out."

However, certain prerequisites must also be met for this: "All of this only works if we start the summer with a low level of infection, like last year," explains the epidemiologist. "We can only do that if, when it comes to traveling, we keep our feet still and catch up with the vaccinations in the next few weeks."

Because for safe travel in summer it is not enough that the risk groups are vaccinated. Younger age groups should also be immunized to a greater extent. “Only when that is the case does the virus no longer have the opportunity to spread any further. Then we can enjoy our summer vacation in compliance with hygiene and distance rules much more worry-free than we could do at Easter, ”explains the expert.