Czech residents can no longer cross the border without quarantining, and officials have taken away the exemption for cross-border shopping. (photo: iStock / Juergen Sack)
Even when that was abolished in November and Czechs had to quarantine, there has always been an exception for Czech residents in transit, international transport, family matters and small border traffic like shopping trips.
⚠️🇨🇿🇩🇪 Bavorská vláda rozhodla o zpřísnění protiepidemických opatření. Pro ČR je zásadní, že od středy 9. 12. 2020 bude zakázán tzv. malý pohraniční styk (nebude tedy možné jezdit na nákupy k sousedům).
Starting Wednesday, Bavaria plans to declare a State of Emergency and tighten anti-coronavirus measures until Jan. 9 as the pandemic worsens in the region. Many hospitals in the region remain overcrowded and current restrictions seem not to help, Prime Minister of the German federal state Markus Söder said this week.
This means that Czech residents can no longer cross the border without quarantining, and officials have taken away the exemption for cross-border shopping. A quarantine is required for 10 days when entering the country; after five days, if you test negative for COVID-19, you can leave quarantine.
Even amid strict restrictions in the region in recent weeks, where German residents don't have the freedom to go out except for essential trips, Czechs have been heading to Bavaria to shop.
"While Saxons can only walk within 15 kilometers of their home, shopping tourists from the Czech Republic travel unchecked across borders," writes the German publication Bild, citing restrictions on movement in districts with more than 200 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in seven days. Those regions include Dresden, a popular shopping spot for Czechs.
The Federal Police Directorate in Pirna, Saxony have said that they carry out frequent random checks at the border, but there are no imposed fines if a violation or breach of quarantine is discovered.