Most shops will be closed and church services canceled on Easter weekend, from 1er April 5 as part of a period of tightened restrictions to stop the rise in COVID-19 infections, Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.
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Gatherings, such as outdoor dining, will be banned from 1er to April 5. Only food stores will be able to open on April 3.
In addition, many restrictions in force since the end of 2020, such as restrictions on private meetings, closures of cultural and leisure facilities, have been extended until April 18, the German leader also announced.
“The situation is serious. The number of cases is increasing exponentially, and intensive care beds are filling up again ”, warned the Chancellor at a press conference after negotiations lasting nearly 12 hours with the regional states. .
She described an “exponential rise” in the epidemic, caused by the British variant. Germany suffers a “new pandemic […] clearly more lethal, clearly more infectious, and contagious for a longer time, ”she warned.
The “emergency braking” device negotiated in early March and which provides for the return of restrictions removed at the beginning of the month when the incidence rate exceeds 100 per 100,000 people over seven days will be activated, also warned Mr.me Merkel.
The hypothesis of local curfews was however ruled out, as were school closings. Classes had already been interrupted from December to February, and many students have still not returned to school or only attend classes every other day.
Government and regions are also counting on a ramp-up of the vaccination campaign, which is struggling to reach cruising speed. “We are in a race for vaccination, which must be effective as quickly as possible,” warned the Chancellor.
The incidence rate reached 107.3 cases per 100,000 people on Monday, with more than 7,700 new cases and 50 deaths reported.