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German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the suspension of European ski tourism in her speech to the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) on Thursday in defense against the coronavirus epidemic.
The prime minister stressed that by the end of October, the spread of the new type of coronavirus in Germany had become uncontrollable. Health agencies were unable to discover and break the chains of infection, so the number of new cases per day began to skyrocket.
That is why new restrictions were introduced in early November. These reduced direct contact with the risk of infection by 40 percent, halting the exponential increase in the number of infected.
The restrictions will remain in effect until at least December 20.
“It’s hard to imagine where we would go if we didn’t literally start this national effort at the last minute,” Angela Merkel said, referring to austerity measures that were stopping the operation of various economic sectors and severely restricting people’s freedom.
By uniting the population, Germany has avoided overloading the healthcare system, but “success is not long-lasting,” and there is no doubt that only by further reducing people-to-people contact can the virus be curbed.
Therefore, the restrictions originally planned until the end of November cannot be lifted. but probably some should be kept until January, but at least until December 20, the chancellor stressed, highlighting elements of a new defense plan drawn up with the provincial heads of government on Wednesday.
Not only Christmas, New Years will be different
He stressed that Germany is in a particularly difficult position due to the aging of society, as 26 million people, more than 25% of a population of approximately 83 million, belong to the most vulnerable groups.
It should not be considered that these people wait in isolation, alone, for the end of the epidemic. Every effort should be made to protect them and efforts should be made to reduce direct contact in all areas of life. Therefore, not only Christmas, but also New Year’s Eve will be different from the previous one, fireworks, street festivals and mass events will be missed.
Ski tourism should also be suspended. The federal government is working to reach an agreement with the EU partner countries to close all ski resorts.
“According to the Austrian statements, unfortunately, this does not seem easy to do,” said the German chancellor.
They also give a mask and a free trial
With the agreement of the federal government and the provinces, restrictions on basic epidemiological precautions (wearing of masks, staying away, frequent hand washing and ventilation) were introduced on November 2.
Tourism and hospitality have almost completely stopped, so hotels can only receive business guests and restaurants can only cook. The activities of cultural institutions, such as museums, theaters and cinemas, amateur sports associations and other institutions and companies specializing in leisure activities have also been suspended. All of these restrictions will remain in effect until at least December 20.
One of the new measures decided on Wednesday is to provide members of the most vulnerable groups with an FFP2 certified mask every 15 weeks for a small amount for the winter months, and 30 of the so-called rapid antigen tests per month, free of charge, for people who need permanent care due to illness or age.
The rule does not change in the basic case, especially in a situation without serious risk of infection. the institutional system of public education and nurseries continues to function throughout the country, most services, retail and wholesale, manufacturing and construction.
There are more than two thousand fans
The new type of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been detected in 22,268 people in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Robert Koch Public Health Institute (RKI) this Thursday. This is a minimal decrease of 22,609 a week earlier.
Along with the new cases In Germany 983,588 infections were registered.The number of deaths associated with the disease caused by the virus (Covid-19) increased by 389 in one day to 15,160.
The number of people who need intensive care for Covid-19 increased by 11 in one day, to 3,781, according to the latest summary of the professional organization of intensive care and accident care (DIVI) this Wednesday. About 60 percent of them, 2,214 people, need mechanical ventilation.
According to the DIVI report, 27,816 intensive care beds are operated nationwide, of which 5,775 are free.
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