Germany extends lockdown until Jan 31, toughens curbs
BERLIN » The German government said Tuesday it is extending the country’s lockdown by three weeks until Jan. 31, tightening curbs on social contacts and planning limits on people’s movements in the worst-affected regions as it tries to reduce stubbornly high infection figures and worrying numbers of coronavirus-related deaths.
Chancel lor Angela Merkel said it was “absolutely necessary” to maintain restrictions, particularly in light of a more infectious variant of the virus that emerged in England.
“We must reach a point where we can once again follow the chains of infection,” Merkel said after a lengthy videoconference with Germany’s 16 state governors. “Otherwise, we will just go keep going back into a lockdown after a short relaxation.”
The chancellor said that restrictions on social contacts will be tightened. People will be allowed to meet only one person outside their own household.
In a new move, authorities across Germany will allow people in areas with more than 200 new infections per 100,000 residents over seven days to travel only 15 kilometers ( just over nine miles) from their hometown unless they have a good reason to go further.