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Germany might tighten restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, as a partial lockdown and social distancing rules in place since the start of November have slowed, but not stopped the disease spreading.
Chancellor Angela Merkel told party colleagues on Monday that existing lockdown measures in place would not be sufficient to get the European Union’s most populous country through the winter, participants at the meeting said.
“A short and comprehensive approach to really make a difference is probably more successful,” Spahn told public broadcaster Phoenix, according to comments distributed late on Monday.
“If we don’t get there within the next one or two weeks until Christmas, we have to discuss it,” he added.
Broadcaster RBB cited Brandenburg state premier Dietmar Woidke as saying the federal government and states would discuss tighter measures this week to suppress the COVID-19 virus.
Under the partial lockdown introduced in early November, restaurants and bars are shut apart from takeaways. Shops and schools remain open.
Political leaders believe the restrictions prevented further exponential growth of new infections, but numbers have plateaued. Germany reported 487 deaths on a single day last week, the highest number since the start of the pandemic.
Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller said any further measures – such as extending school Christmas holidays by a week, offering digital lessons, or putting restrictions on retail business after Christmas – must be adopted by all states.
“I can well imagine that there will be restrictions,” he told broadcaster ARD. “There is no reason to buy a jumper on the 28th of December, you can do that before then … But something like this should or must take place nationwide.”
Hong Kong said on Tuesday the city would once again ban dining in restaurants after 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) and close all gyms and beauty salons, to curb a rise in coronavirus cases in the densely packed financial hub.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the government would also study additional relief measures for the industries affected by the latest restrictions that take effect on Thursday, having been enforced and lifted repeatedly this year.
“The situation is very worrying. This wave is more complicated and more severe than the last wave. The confirmed cases are widely spread out,” Lam told reporters at a weekly media briefing.
“If we don’t control it strictly, there will be bigger risks. This time we will roll out suppressing measures aimed at limiting foot traffic flow on the streets.”
The health authorities said on Tuesday those arriving in Hong Kong would be required to take an extra coronavirus test three weeks after their arrival, in addition to the tests required immediately after landing and towards the end of their mandatory two-week quarantine.
The measure was intended to curb the spread of the virus from imported cases, the authorities said.
On Monday, Hong Kong recorded 78 new cases of the novel coronavirus, taking its total to 6,976.
The authorities lask week asked most civil servants to work from home, limited gatherings to no more than two people and closed bars. But the streets were still filled with people over the weekend, Lam said.
REUTERS
