BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Germany is extending its pandemic restrictions, including the closure of schools and shops, until mid-February, amid concerns that new mutations of the coronavirus could cause a fresh rise in the number of cases.
The contamination rate in Germany has stabilized in recent days, indicating that the existing restrictions may have been effective in reducing the number. On Tuesday, the country’s disease control center reported 11,369 newly confirmed infections and 989 deaths, for a total death toll of 47,622.
“All our efforts to contain the spread of the virus are under serious threat,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin, noting that experts have linked increasing infections in Britain and Ireland with the emergence of a more contagious variant of the virus. there.
“Now is the time to protect yourself from the danger of this mutated virus,” she said.
Although individual cases of new variants have been found in Germany, scientists have said it is not yet dominant, she added.
“There is still time to manage the risk,” Merkel said.
In addition to extending the closure of restaurants, most shops and schools to February 14, Merkel and the governors of the 16 German states agreed to require people to wear the more effective FFP2 or KN95 masks in public transportation and shops. Employers will also be instructed to allow staff to work from home whenever possible to prevent office-related infections.
Merkel said the goal remains to have fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases per week per 100,000 residents. The national average for Germany is currently 131.
The governor of the eastern state of Saxony, which until recently had the highest infection rates in the country, said it was important to further reduce the number of new cases.
“We are currently seeing in Britain what happens when a mutation occurs, when the numbers explode,” he told news channel n-tv. “We cannot stay at this level.”
Medical staff demanded an extension or tightening of the closure as many hospitals are still tense, with intensive care units and even crematoriums reaching their limits in some areas.
“Current measures to limit social contacts seem to be having an effect,” Susanne Johna, the head of the Marburger Bund doctors’ association, told dpa news agency, adding that measures should be maintained to further reduce new infections.
“We urgently need more help,” Johna said.
Merkel recognized the growing concern in Germany about the impact the restrictions are having on students who need to be homeschooled for an additional four weeks.
“It’s a big burden on schools the eight weeks,” she said. ‘But if we had conditions like London … we wouldn’t be talking about schools anymore, but ambulances and overcrowded hospitals. And we must avoid that at all costs. “
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