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Germany will be mired in a nationwide lockdown over Christmas amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
Under the new measures that will last from December 16 to January 10, schools and non-essential businesses will be closed.
Bars and restaurants will be closed, while the sale of fireworks will be banned before New Year’s Eve.
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Germany Christmas Markets: Before and After COVID
Drinking alcohol in public will also be prohibited until January 10.
The measures agreed between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of the country’s 16 federal states are based on restrictions already in place under a partial shutdown.
“We are forced to act, and we act too,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin.
The number of people who will be allowed to gather inside will remain restricted to five, excluding those under 14 years of age.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has announced that there will be an offer of financial support for companies, in an effort to soften the economic blow of the shutdown.
Germany has been in a partial lockdown for the past six weeks, and while bars and restaurants have been closed during that period, shops and schools have remained open.
Politicians have been alarmed in recent days as infection rates reached record levels.
The country’s Health Ministry recorded a daily increase of 20,200 cases on Sunday to a total of 1,320,716, while the number of people who died from coronavirus in Germany rose by 321 to 21,787.
