Meanwhile, the rush to the 151 test stations in the Rhein-Sieg district is getting stronger. At some test stations, only very few tickets for citizens' free tests were still available for this Saturday. A spokeswoman for the district stresses that only certified rapid tests are accepted.

Self-tests may not be accepted by retailers and cultural institutions. This is because not only the name and address but also the time of the test are recorded on the confirmation. Visits to grocery shops and hairdressers are exempt from compulsory testing. These are treated the same as medical facilities due to special treatment. In this way, the district hopes to get more people to the testing stations. Last week, 66 out of 13,363 tests were positive. This corresponds to only 0.49 per cent, but infected people can be isolated more quickly, they said.

Meanwhile, retailers are preparing for the new situation. "Many customers are calling us who quickly want an appointment for today," reports Karin Hinz, who runs the clothing shop "Place to be" in Rheinbach together with her husband. "It was already difficult with the appointments," she says.

"But now none of us really know anymore." She says that many other shop owners in Rheinbach feel the same way, certainly those with whom she talks about the situation on a daily basis. Karin Hinz also complains about a lack of information. She does not know, for example, whether she and her employees also have to be tested.

Christine Piel, who owns a gift shop in Meckenheim, also feels poorly informed. "I don't really know how this is supposed to work now," she says. She too fears that customers will stay away if they have to be tested beforehand. "And there's already not much going on."

Sissis Vassiliadis, chairman of the Siegburg Tourist Office, also wonders how this will work. "Who is supposed to control the tests and how are we supposed to know if they are fake or not? How are the test results to be documented? For me, there are still many unanswered questions," explains Vassiliadis. In the meantime, he lacks understanding of the measures. "In a supermarket with many more people, you are allowed without a test, but in a clothing shop where there are only a certain number of people, you need one. I can't understand that.“

The hope that everything would get better after Easter has disappeared from his mind, he said. "A lot of shopkeepers are getting tired of it too. For the traders it is simply a heavy blow and I don't know how we are going to compensate again. I see black," said Vassiliadis. Click & Meet is better than Click & Collect, he explains, but it also only brings in 35 percent of the normal turnover. With the imposition of a negative test, Vassiliadis is worried that this figure will also drop drastically again.

Angelina Fonteneau, branch manager of the shoe shop Snipes in Kaiserstraße in Siegburg, shares this fear. "Some people already refuse to scan the QR code to enter their data. If they now need another negative test, many won't come and there's not much going on anyway," Fonteneau explains. She also notices that people are getting more irritable and uncertainty is increasing.

The consequences of the emergency brake and the quick test for the Siebengebirgsmuseum in Königswinter could be specified by director Sigrid Lange only on Wednesday afternoon. "We are open for visitors with an appointment and a daily quick test," she says. The possibility to visit the museum with an appointment is "accepted, but cautiously. We'll have to wait and see how that develops now.“

With a rapid test or not? For Frank Dorst of the Rheintourist travel agency in Bad Honnef, this question was still unresolved until Wednesday afternoon: "After all, we are also a parcel acceptance point here. I'm still trying to get a binding answer from the district's citizens' office today." For him, by the way, the farewell formula in these times is no longer "goodbye" or "Auf Wiedersehen". "I just say: 'Keep your nerve'."