Germany tightens epidemic prevention measures and extends the “lockdown”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a meeting with state governors on the 25th to discuss the domestic coronavirus epidemic, and then announced that the epidemic prevention measures would be further tightened and the “lockdown” will be extended until December 20.
Merkel told media reporters after the meeting that the “partial lockdown” measures “will be extended first until December 20, but given the high infection rate, the restrictions may be extended until early January (next year).”
Due to the rebound of the epidemic, Germany began a “partial lockdown” for four weeks on the 2nd of this month, but not as strict as the first round of the “lockdown” in the first half of the year. After the partial lockdown, the number of new coronavirus cases in Germany did not decline significantly in a single day.
According to the epidemic data of the German disease control agency Robert Koch Institute on the 25th, 18,633 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours, with a total of 961,320 confirmed cases. In the past 24 hours, 410 new deaths have been added, the highest since the outbreak.
Government officials in the capital of Berlin, Germany, said that a quarter of the city’s intensive care beds are being used to treat coronavirus patients, most of whom need to use ventilators.
Merkel said that the epidemic lockdown measures have “contained the exponential increase in infections”, but the number of new cases in a single day remains high. She stressed that “now is definitely not the time to lift the alarm”.
According to the new epidemic prevention regulations agreed between the German federal government and the state governments, from December 1, the restriction on gathering no more than 10 people in public places will be further tightened to 5 people in two households, but the scope of application of the restrictions does not include people under the age of 14, and will be relaxed to 10 people before and after the Christmas holiday; masks are mandatory. The encirclement has been expanded from closed public places to crowded shops and parking lots. Except for take-out and hairdressing services, all kinds of catering and sports leisure facilities continue to be closed.
The relaxation of epidemic prevention restrictions is premised on less than 50 new confirmed cases per 100,000 people within seven days. Germany currently has a figure of nearly 140.
Merkel once again called on people to follow epidemic prevention restrictions such as “stay at home as much as possible.” It’s not easy, but we’re going to try it.”
