Germany is extending its current national lockdown to mid-February and is introducing new, tougher measures as the death toll in the country continues to rise.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her 16 prime ministers agreed on Tuesday evening to extend the lockdown, which began in December after an eight-hour marathon discussion. Stricter mask requirements – including the use of FFP2 / N95 masks on public transport and in shops – have been mandated across the country. The reinforced measures came after the German government was warned of the danger posed by the new variants of the virus.
A bottleneck in the discussions was the subject of schools. Officials ultimately decided to stay closed, but ultimately it’s up to the federal states to make it mandatory.
CNN-affiliated n-TV spoke to German citizens about the changes to the Covid-19 restrictions, with a woman telling the local television channel that she had hoped the impact of the current lockdown would now be evident.
“The lockdown should have had some effects, but we don’t see that,” she said.
Another man supported the government’s measures, saying, “They are elected officials and will know what is best for the population.”
The changes come when the latest coronavirus figures were released Wednesday morning by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s national agency for disease control and prevention.
Another 1,148 fatalities were recorded, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease to 48,770 – the second highest daily jump since January 14, when the death toll was a further 1,244.
Another 15,974 new Covid-19 cases were also recorded, bringing the total number in the country to 2,068,002 according to RKI.
When it comes to vaccinations, RKI said 1,195,543 people have been vaccinated so far, with 1,195,543 people receiving the first dose and 24,741 people the second.