Travel rule in Germany

Question

I will travel from Delhi, India to Frankfurt, Germany. From Frankfurt, I have to go to Bochum to join my work. Is it possible, under the current Covid19 restrictions, to travel from Frankfurt to Bochum on the same day? Or do I have to stay in Frankfurt for a few days before to moving to another place.

Answer 1

I assume that you have already figured out what Visa you need and that you meet the criteria to gain admission into Germany. As far as I know, India is NOT on the list of countries that from which entry is allowed and you need some special permission or excpetion (unless you are an EU national).

So I just tackle quarantine and domestic travel. That's complicated enough:

1. Corona rules are made by the individual states. In your case that's Hessen (Frankfurt) and Nordrhein Westfalen (Bochum). You need to study both set of rules.
2. The current regulations in most states are in effect until Novemeber 8. The federal government wants new (and stricter) rules starting Nov 9, but so far the states have not acted on that yet. It's anyone's guess whether they will or not
3. Under the old rules you have no restrictions if you arrive with a negative test that's less than 48 hours old. You can move freely and are not subject to quarantine.
4. If you DO NOT have a negative test, you MUST get tested. Easiest is Frankfurt airport either with Centogene or Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (mostly risk areas). Both test centers are close the long distacne train station (Fernbahnhof). Until you have a negative test result in hand you are required to stay in "quarantine".
5. You are allowed to directly proceed to the place where you will stay and quarantine there. It's unclear what type of transportation you are allowed to use. Car rental places specficically ask whether you are in quarantine. I don't know what happens if you say yes.
6. You must also register with the local health office where you are staying. That would probably be https://www.bochum.de/Gesundheitsamt Online registration is here https://formulardienst.bochum.de/forms/findform?shortname=F194&formtecid=3&areashortname=Amt11
7. What the new rules (after Nov 8) are going to be is unknown. Most likely you will need to stay in quarantine for at least 5 days (even if you have a negative test) and then you can test out. If the test is negative, you can leave quarantine. Since the test will also take beetween 1-3 days you should budget at least 7 days in quarantine where you are NOT allowed to work, see people, go out, etc. You will have to stay in your room with food being delivered.
8. Many hotels have closed for November and the remainng rooms are restriced to "neccessary travel" whatever that mean. Make sure you have a place to stay

You better make sure that the trip is really neccessary, since it will be a challenge.

One more thing: Germany is tightening up all Covid rules. They have a color coding system and and rules and restrictions depend on the color . BOchum is currently "dark red" which is the worst, although not unusual in the country at the moment.