The German government on Tuesday extended the country’s lockdown by three weeks until January 31 amid a rise in cases of COVID-19, tightening curbs on social contacts and planning limits on people’s movements in the worst-affected regions, reports The Associated Press.
Chancellor 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 videoconference with Germany’s 16 state governors. “Otherwise, we will just go keep going back into a lockdown after a short relaxation.”
As part of the new measures, restrictions on social contacts will be tightened. People will be allowed to meet only one person outside their own household.
In addition, 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.
Merkel and the governors plan to confer again on January 25 on what happens after the end of the month.
Germany launched a nationwide partial shutdown on November 2, closing restaurants, bars, leisure and sports facilities. When that move failed to reduce infections, it announced the current lockdown which took effect December 16 and later extended until January 10.
Tuesday’s announcement came a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a new national lockdown for England in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Under the new rules, people will only be able to leave their homes for specific reasons. The measures are expected to stay in place until mid-February.
Britain’s lockdown followed surging infection rates across the country, fuelled by the new strain of COVID-19 which is believed to have originated in Kent.
Britain had previously announced a stay at home order for part of the country to slow the new variant.