Berlin (CNN)Central Europe has become the continent's latest coronavirus hotspot, with Austria struggling to contain an outbreak of the new
variant first identified in
South Africa and neighboring Czech Republic facing hospital bed shortages on top of a political crisis over lockdowns.
The worsening situation in the Austrian province of Tyrol and the
Czech Republic forced Germany to announce new border controls with both countries to contain the spread of the disease. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said the new rules, which will come into effect on Sunday, were "unavoidable."
''To protect the population from virus mutations -- this is why the federal government decided yesterday to declare the Czech Republic, Tyrol and Slovakia as coronavirus variant areas," Spahn said at a news conference Friday.
