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BERLIN: Germany will impose a month-long emergency shutdown that includes the closure of restaurants, gyms and theaters to reverse a surge in coronavirus cases that risks overwhelming hospitals, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday (October 28).
“We need to take action now,” he said, adding that the recent skyrocketing number of infections has generated enough political and public support for tough new measures to reduce social contacts and suppress outbreaks.
Starting November 2, private gatherings will be limited to 10 people from a maximum of two households. Restaurants, bars, theaters, cinemas, swimming pools and gyms will be closed and concerts will be canceled.
Professional sporting events can only be held without spectators. People will be asked not to travel for private, non-essential reasons, and hotel overnight stays will be available only for necessary business trips.
However, schools and nurseries will remain open, as will stores, as long as they comply with hygiene and social distancing rules. National rules replace a confusing patchwork of regional measures.
To make the measures more acceptable, especially for smaller companies, Germany will offer financial assistance to those affected by the new restrictions.
Under a new 10 billion euro (US $ 11.82 billion) aid package, companies with up to 50 employees will receive 75 percent of their previous year’s revenue for the month of November.
In addition, freelancers such as artists and stage craftsmen will receive access to emergency loans, and the government will expand an existing liquidity program to give small businesses with fewer than 10 employees access to very cheap loans.
Germany, with Europe’s largest economy, was widely praised for keeping infection and death rates below those of many of its neighbors in the first phase of the crisis, but is now in the midst of a second wave, such as much of the rest of Europe.
Cases rose by 14,964 to 464,239 in the past 24 hours, Germany’s infectious disease agency, the Robert Koch Institute, said on Wednesday.
Deaths rose by 85 to 10,183, raising fears about the healthcare system after Merkel warned it could hit the breaking point if infections continue to rise.
“Our health system can still face this challenge today, but at this rate of infections it will reach the limit of its capacity in a few weeks,” said the conservative chancellor.
Merkel added that health authorities could no longer trace the origin of about 75 percent of infections, making it difficult to say exactly what measures would have the most effective impact.
Germany now has a four-week partial shutdown to help flatten the infection curve.
“Our hope is that if we can do this for four weeks then we will have a chance to stop this dramatic development, that we will have a chance to regain some security,” said Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller.
Merkel and the 16 leaders of Germany’s state government will meet again two weeks after the partial shutdown to assess how effective the measures decided on Wednesday are.
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