At least 70 persons in a refugee reception facility near Bonn have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. This comes after a German court ruled that in a different refugee shelter COVID-19 protection was ‘inadequate’ for a pregnant woman and her husband.
According to local authorities in Bonn, persons tested positive have been transferred to an isolated area. Most of them have mild or no symptoms. 60 persons who have been tested negative were transferred to another facility. The accommodation houses up to 600 people.
Green Party politician Horst Becker criticised the handling of the pandemic concerning reception facilities: “We have repeatedly called for blanket testing in these homes. Now we can see that this is happening far too late.” Additional outbreaks in refugee homes have been reported in Bonn, Berlin and other areas of Germany.
At the beginning of May, an administrative court in Münster ruled that the protection against the coronavirus is ‘inadequate’ at another refugee reception centre. A pregnant woman and her husband, living in a shared accommodation for asylum seekers, appealed to the court to be removed from the centre. The court argued that the rules regarding social distancing and hygiene protocols set by the state cannot be followed in the centre.
In Germany, asylum-seekers are required to live in reception centres or shared accommodations while their request for asylum is pending.
For further information:
- ECRE, Germany: Protests in Reception Centre with Residents Exposed to COVID-19 During Lockdown, April 2020
- ECRE, Germany: Temporary Suspension of Dublin Returns Due to COVID-19, March 2020
- ECRE, INFORMATION SHEET 5 MAY 2020: COVID-19 MEASURES RELATED TO ASYLUM AND MIGRATION ACROSS EUROPE, May 2020
This article appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin . You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.