The German federal states are in favor of extending the COVID-19 lockdown to improve the Christmas prospects

The German federal states are in favor of extending the COVID-19 lockdown to improve the Christmas prospects

23 Nov 2020 – 14:43

BERLIN: Many of the 16 federal states are in favor of extending a partial shutdown in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and to enable family celebrations over Christmas, said two prime ministers on Monday.

Germany, which is ruled by a conservative-social-democratic coalition, imposed a one-month “Lockdown-Lite” from November 2nd. The number of infections has stabilized since then, but has not decreased.

“The shutdown in November brought something, the (contagion) numbers are subdued, but they remain high,” said Manuela Schwesig, Prime Minister of the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Deutschlandfunk (DLF). “For this reason, many federal states believe that the November shutdown must continue, especially in the risk areas,” said the Social Democrat.

Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Conservatives, said at a press conference that there was general agreement that the current restrictions should be extended by around three weeks.

Prime Minister and Merkel should discuss the measures on Wednesday. You could extend it until December 20, as Reuters suggests submitted by the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats.

Restaurants will be closed during the November lockdown, but schools and shops will remain open. Private gatherings are limited to a maximum of 10 people from two households.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose in the last 24 hours by 10,864 to 929,133, 40 more than the corresponding increase on the previous Sunday, as data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.

The number of reported fatalities rose in Germany, a country with 83 million inhabitants and the largest economy in Europe, by 90 to 14,112.

Financial support for companies could be extended until December, said Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier in the DLF.

Preparations for the COVID-19 vaccinations should be completed by mid-December so that vaccinations can start immediately if vaccines are available before the end of the year, Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters.

These hopes were sparked by Pfizer and BioNTech’s US application for emergency approval of their COVID-19 vaccine.

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