Weltnachrichten – AU – Germany closes shops and schools in Covid Christmas Lockdown

Germany will do most of its business from Wednesday to 10. Closing January and banning fireworks sales for New Year’s Eve after Angela Merkel and heads of state agreed to impose a national lockdown to regain control of rising coronavirus infection rates ahead of a « very difficult Christmas ».

Non-essential shops, with the exception of grocery retailers, pharmacies and banks, but also hairdressing and beauty salons, must from the 16. December close their doors.

Schools and kindergartens only need to provide emergency care for key workers in the last three days before the planned Christmas break. Parents are asked to look after their children at home “whenever possible”. .

As part of the national lockdown, which Merkel and the heads of state and government of the 16 federal states agreed in an emergency summit on Sunday morning in less than an hour, employers are being asked to either release workers for early holidays or allow more generous remote work agreements.

The social gathering restrictions will now be in effect from Jan.. until 26. December relaxed for a shorter period than previously announced, so that each household can be visited by four family members over the age of 14. Those who want to spend Christmas with their families are encouraged to keep social contacts to an « absolute minimum » in the coming week.

Stricter rules apply for New Year’s Eve, prohibiting the usual fireworks display in large public spaces, the sale of pyrotechnics for personal use, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages outdoors.

« There is an urgent need for action, » said Merkel after a meeting with the leaders of the country’s 16 federal states.

Germany is since the 4th. November in a « soft lockdown » mode. Bars and restaurants are closed, while shops and schools remain open.

However, the compromise agreement did not significantly lower daily coronavirus rates. The number of new infections reported by the state agency for disease control is around 20. 000 cases.

Germany is the only large country in Europe where the number of people who die of or with Covid-19 has risen steadily since November and has exceeded the peak recorded in spring.

On Sunday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 20 according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases. 200 to 1. 320. 716. The reported death toll rose 321 to 21. 787.

« We are on the way to a third wave before the second breaks, » wrote the newspaper Die Welt in a comment.

« Corona has gotten out of hand, » said Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder on Sunday, adding that the time has come for a « national effort » to overcome a « catastrophe that affects our lives like no other crisis that we saw. « in the last 50 years ».

Together with the eastern federal state of Saxony, Söders southern federal state already imposed stricter regional closures with curfews for hotspots last week.

A « Bergamo scenario » in which hospitals were overwhelmed with patients who needed ventilation and intensive care, Söder warned, « closer than many people believe ». .

Germany has a comparatively high number of intensive care units. On Sunday are 4. 267 replacement beds in the intensive care unit entered in the national register. However, there are concerns about the shortage of nursing staff.

In some hospitals, intensive care units only had 5-10% capacity reserves at the end of last week, said intensive care doctor Uwe Janssens to the broadcaster Deutsche Welle. « That is not enough to cover the broad spectrum of seriously ill patients, » said Janssens, member of the German Association for Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine (DIVI). .

A later than expected distribution of the vaccines increases the headache of Angela Merkel’s coalition government. According to several media reports on Sunday, Germany is unlikely to receive 3 to 4 million doses of the first vaccine until late January due to production problems with Pfizer / BioNTech.

The European Medicines Agency has not yet approved the vaccine developed by BioNTech in Mainz. Germany is also still waiting for its part in a 300 million-dose order of the vaccine, developed by French company Sanofi and UK GlaxoSmithKline, which announced last week that their product won’t be ready for distribution until late 2021.

Germany, Angela Merkel, Lockdown, Coronavirus