Germany settles on virus plan
Alarm bells from infection spike spur effort to get out front
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel and the governors of Germany’s 16 states agreed Tuesday on plans meant to keep the country’s coronavirus infection figures from accelerating to levels being seen in other European countries while keeping schools and businesses open if possible.
In recent weeks, the number of new infections in Germany has hit the highest level since April, with more than 2,000 per day on several occasions. That is still well below the numbers seen at the height of the pandemic’s first phase and far from the figures now being recorded in some other European countries, notably France and Spain.
But it has set alarm bells ringing in Germany, and Merkel noted that the number of new infections has basically been doubling monthly since June, meaning that if the rate is not slowed, Germany could be seeing 19,200 daily infections by December.
“That underscores the urgency of our talks,” she told reporters.
Infection rates in Munich and some other cities have recently hovered around the mark of 50 new cases per 100,000 residents a week. Infection spikes are cropping up elsewhere, such as in the western town of Hamm, where a persistent outbreak has been linked to a wedding party.
To ensure that outbreaks can be more easily tracked, fines of at least $59 per incident will be levied if customers give fake names or contact information to restaurants or other businesses.
Complete school shutdowns are meant to be avoided by keeping class groups apart from one another so that they can be more easily isolated and tracked if the virus is detected.
Under a “hot spot strategy,” further restrictions will be linked to local developments, Merkel said, stressing that the aim is to act “regionally, specifically and accurately.”
“A complete shutdown of the country must be prevented,” she said.
Bavarian Governor Markus Soeder said the government’s hope is to “motivate, not irritate” people with the restrictions while avoiding a general lockdown.
“For many younger people, common sense means not only common sense for yourselves, but protection for neighbors, for parents, for grandparents, for friends, for the chronically ill or otherwise disabled in our country,” Soeder said.
In other developments:
■ India’s Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has tested positive for the coronavirus and will home quarantine. His office said in a tweet on Tuesday the 71-year-old Naidu is asymptomatic and in good health. His wife, Usha Naidu, has tested negative and is in self-isolation.
■ Health inspectors in Greece say an emergency docking order for a cruise ship near Athens can be lifted after crew members suspected of the coronavirus tested negative. The Maltese-flagged Mein Schiff 6, carrying more than 1,500 people, was rerouted and ordered to sail to the port of Piraeus after testing of the crew indicated 12 ship staff were positive but asymptomatic.
■ Guatemala’s government said bars, theaters and its famed archaeological sites can reopen on Thursday after being closed for months because of the coronavirus. The government said limits on attendance and other measures will be in place for areas where the coronavirus is still spreading at relatively high levels, including Guatemala City and most of the country’s municipalities.
■ Health workers for Peru’s social security system began a 48-hour walkout on Tuesday to demand higher pay and better working conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.