Germany will enter a four-week lockdown from 2 November, Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced.
The details include:
- Bars and pubs to shut
- Restaurants to shut except for takeaway
- Gyms, cinemas and theatres to close
- Private gatherings banned for more than 10 people and more than two households
- Hotels to close to tourists and stay open only for essential reasons
- Non-essential travel discouraged
- Shops to stay open but with fewer than one person per 10 square metres
- Schools, kindergartens and day care centres to stay open
Restaurants have been dealt a blow, ordering to close again
Ms Merkel said she “wants to make sure” nursing homes can still receive visitors during the lockdown, which will be reviewed in two weeks.
She said the “tough measures” were necessary to prevent the overwhelming of hospitals as Germany faces soaring coronavirus deaths and cases.
“We need to take action now,” she said, adding that the key to defusing the “very serious” situation was to reduce contacts while limiting damage to the economy.
In explaining her reasoning for the country’s second nationwide lockdown, the chancellor said the number of filled intensive care beds had doubled in 10 days.
Track and trace efforts had become inundated with new cases, leaving the origin of three quarters of infections a mystery.
While the virus is growing exponentially and the “doubling of cases has become faster,” Ms Merkel said she believed this short, sharp lockdown could slow it down and ensure hospitals can continue to cope.
Shops in Germany will stay open but with stricter social distancing
“If the pace of infections continues like this, then we’ll reach the limits of what the health system can manage within weeks,” she said.
The country’s 16 state governors agreed on the lockdown via video link.
Hours earlier, Germany’s disease control agency confirmed a record 14,964 new confirmed coronavirus cases in one day, taking the national total to 449,275.
It also reported 27 more virus-related deaths, raising its toll to 10,098, the Robert Koch Institute said.
And the country is far from alone in its mounting worry at the rapidly spreading pandemic.
France is expected to announce tougher measures soon
The World Health Organisation warned Europe has faced a 35% spike in deaths in seven days compared to the previous week.
France is expected to follow Germany’s lead and enter its own four-week national lockdown, local media has widely reported.
France reported its highest daily death count since April on Tuesday, with 523 virus-linked deaths. It has also been confirming tens of thousands of cases each day, with a record 52,010 reported on Saturday.
And more than half of the country’s intensive care units are filled with COVID-19 patients.
Recent anti-lockdown protests have turned violent in Rome
Belgium, the Netherlands, most of Spain and the Czech Republic are seeing similarly high infection rates.
European governments have been desperate to avoid national lockdowns for fear of more economic pain – and protests have broken out in several countries which have toughened measures.
Some anti-lockdown demonstrations have turned violent, including in Italy where far-right demonstrators clashed with police in Rome, Turin and Naples.