FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - There have been no suspected cases in the new Corona checks for passengers from China. At Frankfurt Airport on Monday morning, 72 passengers on a China Eastern flight from Shanghai were asked to undergo rapid antigen tests, a spokeswoman for the Frankfurt health department reported. These were negative in all cases, she said, so no further testing was necessary. Otherwise, a PCR test would have been due, which in the positive case would have been examined for new variants of the coronavirus.

According to a spokesman, the federal police additionally checked whether the passengers had the proofs for the rapid tests with them, which they had to present before departure. Here, too, there were no abnormalities. In addition, the waste water from the Chinese aircraft is to be checked. The next arrival from China is scheduled in Frankfurt for Tuesday afternoon.

The authorities are implementing the stricter entry rules issued by the German Cabinet on Friday amid concerns about new virus variants. In the Corona entry regulation, areas where a virus variant of concern is likely to occur can now be designated in addition to virus variant areas. According to the Robert Koch Institute, this classification has been in effect for China (with the exception of Hong Kong) since 0:00.

The German Foreign Office (AA) advises "currently from unnecessary travel" to China. The number of infections there is currently at the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic and the Chinese health system is overloaded, it says in explanation in the travel and security advice of the AA./ceb/DP/mis