Coronavirus is ‘out of control’ in Germany, says minister

The coronavirus outbreak is ‘out of control’ in Germany as cases and deaths continue to rise after a failed ‘lockout light’, Economy Minister Angela Merkel said today.

Peter Altmaier admitted that “less intrusive measures were not enough” after Germany was forced to close shops and schools and enter a second “hard lockdown” over Christmas after six weeks of partial measures.

It came as 16,362 cases and 188 more deaths were added to Germany’s tally today, bringing the infection count to 1.34 million and the death toll to 21,975.

Altmaier warned that hospitals would overflow within weeks if the new lockdown was not imposed, with a record number of intensive care patients of more than 4,500.

After not significantly declining during the ‘lock light’, the infection rate has increased again in Germany, prompting tough new measures over Christmas.

The death rate has also continued to rise and is now much higher than during the first wave, with an average of 437 deaths recorded per day.

However, Altmaier expressed optimism that Europe’s largest economy could avoid going back into recession, telling Deutschlandfunk radio that “I hope we can avoid complete economic stagnation in the second wave of the pandemic.”

The new lock will run until January 10, and non-essential stores will close starting Wednesday to halt the ‘exponential growth’ of new infections.

Beauty salons will also close and companies will be urged to allow employees to work from home or offer extended vacations.

The sale of alcohol will be banned in public places, essentially banning mulled wine stands that are often popular in the days leading up to Christmas.

The sale of fireworks traditionally used to celebrate the New Year will also be banned, as will outdoor public gatherings on New Year’s Eve.

With the exception of Christmas, the number of people allowed to gather inside will remain restricted to five, not including children under the age of 14.

Merkel agreed on the new measures with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states on Sunday.

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Soeder welcomed the new measures, said that “the situation in the crown is out of control” and promised to implement the restrictions.

“We must be careful that Germany does not become Europe’s problem child,” he said.

The ‘shutdown light’ imposed in November closed bars and restaurants, as well as leisure and cultural facilities, and initially caused a slowdown in infections.

But after stalling at a high level, the infection rate has picked up again in the last week and the death rate has yet to reach a visible peak.

Angela Merkel speaks with Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (top) and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (bottom left) in the Bundestag last week.

Police in front of a mulled wine stand in Dresden over the weekend, while Merkel and state leaders agreed to ban the sale of alcohol outdoors.

“With increased mobility and associated additional contacts in the run-up to Christmas, Germany is now experiencing exponential growth in infection figures,” said the policy document agreed to by regional leaders and Merkel.

Therefore, “our task was to avoid an overload of our health systems and therefore there is an urgent need to take action,” said the chancellor.

The German Hospital Federation welcomed the new measures, but called it “difficult to understand” why the European Medicines Agency had not yet approved the first coronavirus vaccine.

The EMA director said on Thursday that the data presented by Pfizer and BioNTech was “very strong”, but the EU agency has not yet completed its reviews.

Britain, Canada and the United States have already approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the United Kingdom began vaccinating last week.

Germany said earlier this month that it had decided not to grant an emergency authorization to increase confidence in the vaccine.

“We decided not to do so and opted for a common European approach to move forward together,” said Health Minister Jens Spahn.