Germany gets tough to fight virus
Print Edition
Germany on Tuesday toughened a partial lockdown and extended it to February 14, with Chancellor Angela Merkel warning of possible border checks to contain 鈥渢he danger鈥 of new coronavirus variants believed to be more contagious.
Speaking after hours of crisis talks with the leaders of Germany鈥檚 16 states, Merkel said the latest restrictions were necessary as 鈥渁 precaution for our country, the health of our citizens and also for the economy.鈥
Merkel and the state premiers agreed to make medical masks mandatory on public transport and in shops, meaning only surgical masks or the so-called FFP2 masks will be allowed.
They also said employers must make it possible for staff work from home wherever it is feasible.
The measure goes beyond previous appeals to companies to do more to keep people out of offices and off public transport.
鈥淎ll our efforts to contain the virus are threatened by a serious danger,鈥 Merkel told reporters, pointing to a new strain that has sparked a surge in infections in Britain and Ireland.
鈥淭here is still time to contain the danger,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e must act now.鈥
Germany closed restaurants, leisure and sporting facilities in November, then expanded the shutdown in mid-December to include schools and most shops to halt runaway growth in new coronavirus infections. They will all remain closed until February 14.
Merkel鈥檚 spokesperson Steffen Seibert said earlier the measures so far had brought about a 鈥渇lattening of the infections curve,鈥 noting that the number of patients in intensive care had fallen slightly.
Tuesday鈥檚 talks between Merkel and state premiers were brought forward by a week because of concerns over virus variants recently discovered in South Africa and Britain.
Merkel said Germany would use an EU summit tomorrow to call for 鈥渟ynchronized measures鈥 to rein in the spread of the new strains.
She warned that Europe鈥檚 top economy may have to install border checks if neighbors fail to find a deal within the bloc, noting many cross-border commuters every day.
鈥淚f countries should decide to take different paths颅 then you have to be ready to say then, we鈥檒l have to reintroduce border controls. We don鈥檛 want that, we want to find an agreement with our partners,鈥 she said.
Germany survived the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic relatively well, but a second wave hit the country hard.
New infections have soared far above the 50-per-100,000 -people threshold set by the government. Last Thursday, the country saw a new high in daily deaths with 1,244.
On Tuesday, daily deaths reached 989 though health authorities said they might have been inflated after a lag in weekend reporting.
Seibert noted on Monday that the rate was still at over 130 per 100,000 people, and that Germany 鈥渕ust more quickly鈥 bring that down to 50.
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