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As the crown’s numbers continue to rise, Germany is drastically shutting down public life for just under four weeks.
Angela Merkel, Markus Söder, Olaf Scholz and Michael Müller briefed Germany on the blockade.
Photo: Rainer Keuenhof (Getty Images)
In view of the spread of the corona pandemic, public life in Germany will be drastically closed as of next Wednesday (December 16). Retail, with the exception of stores for daily necessities, must close. This was announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel after consultations with the prime minister on Sunday.
Schoolchildren and kindergarten children should stay home for three and a half weeks no later than Wednesday through January 10, whenever possible. Exceptions and emergency care are possible and in some federal states such rules apply as of Monday. In view of the harsh blockade, the federal government is expanding financial assistance from the crown for businesses. The costs of the extended bridge aid III are estimated at around 11.2 billion euros for a month with the closings ordered, according to a document from the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
According to the foreign minister, the partial blockade that has been in force since the beginning of November “was not enough.” The exponential growth of new corona infections could have stalled for a time, Merkel said after consultations with prime ministers in Berlin on Sunday. But then there was a “lateral movement”, and for a few days it has grown exponentially again.
The goal has always been to avoid overloading the healthcare system, Merkel said. The tightening of the measures that has now been decided will affect the holidays. But: “We are obliged to act and we are acting now.”
Restrictions also on holidays
For the Christmas days of December 24-26, federal states should be able to allow reunions with five people plus children up to 14 years of age in the immediate family as an exception to otherwise applicable contact restrictions, depending on the infection rate. According to the Chancellor, the closest family circle includes both spouses and other civil partners, as well as direct relatives such as siblings and their respective household members, even if this means more than two households.
On New Years Eve and New Year’s Day, a “ban on gathering and gathering” will be implemented. In addition, a ban on fireworks in public places will apply. “There is a ban on selling pyrotechnics before New Year’s Eve,” Merkel said. In addition, drinking alcohol in public will be prohibited from December 16 to January 10 and violations will be fined.
Söder: There is no alternative to confinement
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder has defended the tough December 16 blockade across Germany as an alternative. “Corona is a catastrophe that affects our lives more than any crisis we have had in the last 50 years,” the CSU chief said Sunday after telephone consultations with the federal and state governments.
“If we are not careful, Germany will quickly become the problem child in all of Europe. That is why we had and must act, ”Söder said. The situation with new infections has gotten out of control, so politics must act. “The philosophy is: stay home!”
Bavaria “will implement the measures to the fullest,” Söder stressed. The previous partial blockade had an effect, in the end the medicine was not enough. One should not shy away from the necessary consequence for convenience.
Berlin Prime Minister Michael Müller (SPD) emphasized that “things are still possible”, for example at Christmas. “But you don’t have to do everything you can.”
