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The partial quarantine is valid until January 10.
In addition, the new measures, which Merkel agreed on Sunday with regional leaders in 16 German states, also ask companies to allow employees to work from home or offer them longer collective vacations.
The sale of alcoholic beverages in public places will be prohibited, so the mulled wine kiosks that will reach many buyers before Christmas will not be able to function either.
“The situation with the coronavirus is unmanageable,” said Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder, who welcomed the stricter restrictions he promised to impose on his country.
Germany closed cultural and leisure centers in November. Restaurants, bars and other catering establishments, which can only sell take-out food and drinks, were also closed to visitors.
These measures helped stop the rapid spread of the infection after the fall school holidays, but the rates of new infections remained high.
And over the past week, the spread of the infection, according to the country’s disease control agency, has taken on a worrying character.
“With the increase in human flows, and therefore additional contacts, before the Christmas period, there is now an exponential increase in the number of infections in Germany,” the document agreed between the Länder and Merkel.
Therefore, “we must avoid overloading our health systems and that is why urgent action is needed,” said the Chancellor.
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