BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Germany was extending its pandemic restrictions, including the closure of schools and shops, until mid-February amid concerns that new coronavirus mutations could trigger a further increase in cases.
The infection rate in Germany has stabilized in recent days, indicating that existing restrictions could have been effective in reducing the number. On Tuesday, the country’s disease control center reported 11,369 newly confirmed infections and 989 deaths, for a total of 47,622 deaths.
“All our efforts to limit the spread of the virus face a serious threat,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin, noting that experts have linked growing infections in the UK and Ireland to the emergence of a more contagious virus variant there.
“Now is the time to guard against the dangers of this mutant virus,” she said.
While individual courts of new variants have been found in Germany, scientists have said it is not yet dominant, she added.
“There is still time, so to speak, to contain the risk,” Merkel said.
In addition to extending the closure of restaurants, most shops and schools until February 14, Merkel and the governors of the 16 German states agreed to ask people to wear more efficient FFP2 or KN95 masks on public transport and in stores. Employers will also be ordered to allow staff to work from home, whenever possible, to avoid infections caused by the office.
Merkel said the goal remains to have less than 50 new cases of coronavirus per week per 100,000 inhabitants. Germany’s national average is currently 131.
The governor of East Saxony, which until recently had the highest infection rates in the country, said it was important to further reduce the number of new cases.
“Currently, we see in the UK what happens when a mutation occurs, when the numbers explode,” he told the n-tv news channel. “We can’t stay at this level.”
Medical workers have called for the extension to be extended or tightened, as many hospitals are still on the verge, intensive care units and even crematoria are reaching their limits. in some areas.
“Current measures to limit social contact appear to be having an effect,” Susanne Johna, head of the Marburger Bund doctors’ association, told the dpa news agency, adding that measures should be maintained to further reduce new infections.
“We urgently need additional relief,” Johna said.
Merkel acknowledged growing concern in Germany about the impact of the restrictions on students facing another four weeks of home schooling.
“It’s a big strain for schools in the eight weeks,” she said. “But if we had conditions like in London then … we wouldn’t talk about schools anymore, we would talk about ambulances and overflowing hospitals. And we must avoid this at all costs. ”
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