BERLIN — Germany prolonged its lockdown measures by one more month and imposed many new restrictions, together with largely shutting down public life over Easter, in an effort to drive down the speed of coronavirus infections.
Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the measures early Tuesday after a lengthy video call with the nation’s 16 state governors, almost three weeks after the two sides last agreed on a plan paving the way to relax some guidelines.
Since then, infections have increased steadily as the more contagious variant first detected in Britain has to become dominant. The restrictions previously set to run through March 28 will now remain in place till April 18.
Regions, where the weekly number of new infections exceeds 100 per 100,000 residents on three consecutive days, will face harder guidelines, as agreed on in the earlier assembly.
“Unfortunately, we should make use of this emergency brake,” Merkel informed reporters in Berlin.
The weekly infection rate per 100,000 individuals stood at 107 nationwide on Monday, up from the mid-60s three weeks ago.
Officials agreed to largely shut down public life from April 1-3, adding a public holiday and shutting down most shops for the period. Public gatherings will probably be banned from April 1-5, to encourage individuals to remain at home.
Amid concern over the rise in Germans traveling abroad on holidays, authorities also agreed on a blanket requirement for air travelers to be tested for COVID-19 before boarding a flight to Germany.
According to Tuesday’s agreement, authorities will aim to offer free tests to all students and teachers in German schools, many of which have only recently reopened after months of remote teaching.
Merkel stated Germany, which had comparatively low deaths during the first phase of the pandemic last spring, has seen “successes but also of setbacks.”
The nation’s vaccination campaign has lagged far behind expectations, with only about 9% of the population receiving at least a first shot and 4% receiving both doses by Sunday.
“We don’t need our health system to be overloaded,” Merkel stated, noting that the new variant has caused severe sickness also in younger people who are infected.
Travelcorrespondence.com a day earlier reported the possibility of lockdown extension https://travelcorrespondence.com/covid-19-germany-plans-to-extend-lockdown-draft-proposal-says/
