Merkel weighs up tougher lockdown
FRANKFURT: Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing to tighten Germany’s lockdown, as the country’s death toll rose by more than 1,500 for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Ms Merkel aims to meet with regional leaders soon to discuss additional curbs amid fears that a more contagious variant may cause infections to spiral out of control, a government official said. The number of daily fatalities jumped by 1,589 in the 24 hours through yesterday morning, taking the total to more than 45,000, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Ms Merkel has yet to reach a consensus with the state premiers — who have to agree on such measures in Germany’s federal system
— about further restrictions, added the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
The new curbs may include curfews, and the complete shutdown of all schools and public transport, Bild newspaper reported on Thursday, without identifying the source of its information. The meeting with regional premiers might take place on Jan 20, it said.
“We must do something” and “mobilise forces” to stop new variants from spreading in Germany, Bild quoted Ms Merkel as telling party colleagues.
Europe’s largest economy is struggling to contain infections amid concerns that the variant that has spread from the UK to Ireland will cause cases in Germany to skyrocket.
Despite weeks of stricter curbs, the contagion rate remains about three times higher than a government target. The total number of infections has doubled since the end of November, passing 2 million on Thursday and rising to 2,015,235 as of yesterday morning, according to JHU. The death toll has almost tripled to nearly 44,700.
Hospitals in some German states are running out of intensive-care beds, and tighter lockdown rules may be needed to stem the tide of new cases, Lothar Wieler, who heads the country’s Robert Koch Institute public-health agency, warned earlier on Thursday.
Germany’s high case numbers probably can’t be blamed on the spread of the new variant from the UK, Prof Wieler said, with monitoring so far indicating the mutation may not yet be widely established in Germany. The virus is spreading because people aren’t following lockdown rules, he added.
Ms Merkel agreed with regional premiers this month to impose tougher limits on movement and sharpen restrictions on private gatherings.