The federal government led by Angela Merkel wants to extend the coronavirus lockdown restrictions in force in Germany due to the third wave of the pandemic in April, according to a government document obtained by France Presse on Sunday.
Given the ‘current dynamics of infections accelerated by COVID-19 variants’, it is planned to ‘extend’ in April, until a date remains to be determined, all travel restrictions in force, the document says, which will serve Monday as a working basis for a meeting on the subject between the head of government and the leaders of the Länder, according to Agerpres.
In Germany the lockdown restrictions were in place by the end of March.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, the incidence rate of infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 7 days exceeded the symbolic national threshold of 100 on Sunday, reaching 103.9, which should, in principle, trigger new restrictions.
The document from the chancellor’s office says that “contacts inside” buildings should be avoided “as far as possible, due to the increased risk of infection”.
In companies, much of the work needs to be done from home, and employees who need to be present should be able to do ‘at least two quick tests a week’.
The project opens the possibility for the Länder to test ‘temporary models’ in order to ‘open up individual spaces of public life’, establishing as an access criterion ‘negative test results’ and tracking contacts via mobile application.
Cross-border travel must still be ‘limited to a minimum’, and be combined with quarantine and a mandatory test before returning to Germany.
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As early as Wednesday, the government asked the Germans to be ‘responsible’ and give up travel on the Spanish island of Mallorca during the Easter holidays, despite numerous offers from airlines.
The health minister said Europe did not have enough doses of vaccine to control the third wave of the pandemic. That is why Germany and other countries are forced to reinstate the lockdown.
On March 7, when the threshold fell below 50, the federal government lifted some of the restrictions. Schools were opened, and the plan provided for “new freedoms” for April. Now, however, the Germans can say goodbye to the long-awaited relaxation.
in Germany, a clear majority of Germans are against tightening lockdown restrictions. In a poll conducted by YouGov’s research institute for DPA, only 30% were in favor of extending the blockade. On the other hand, 23% are in favor of maintaining the current measures, 22% in favor of relaxing them.
15 percent even support the lifting of all restrictions on freedoms. Ten percent did not provide any information. The representative survey of 2059 people was conducted from Tuesday to Thursday.
Source: ZiarulRomanesc.de