BERLIN, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany registered a record
number of deaths from Covid-19 on Wednesday, the first day of a new partial lockdown to try and curb a surge in infections.
A total of 952 people died in the previous 24 hours, according to the
Robert Koch Institute disease control centre.
It said 27,728 new coronavirus cases were registered, a figure close to the
daily record of infections reported on Friday.
Some 83 per cent of critical care beds in hospitals were occupied Wednesday, the country’s intensive care and emergency medicine association (DIVI) said.
The new restrictions, including closures of schools and non-essential shops until at least Jan 10, demonstrate the seriousness of the situation in Europe’s largest economy.
The partial lockdown follows ramped-up restrictions elsewhere in Europe.
In Britain, London’s pubs, restaurants and hotels have been forced to close for the third time this year; Denmark has moved to a partial lockdown for the whole country; and in the Netherlands, a five-week lockdown came into effect on Tuesday.
Germany coped relatively well with the first wave in the spring but was unable to stop the spread of a resurgent virus in recent months with milder restrictions.
Authorities now want to “implement the principle of ‘we’re staying at home’“, according to the policy paper agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and 16 state premiers.
Social contacts will have to remain limited over the Christmas period from Dec 24 to 26, when meetings will only be possible between close family members.
New Year’s Eve festivities will also be curtailed, with the sale of fireworks and gatherings banned.
On Tuesday the Ifo think-tank, with an eye on scaled-back activity, downgraded its growth forecast for Germany in 2021 to 4.2 per cent from 5.1 per cent previously.
Ahead of the closure of most retail stores until next year, Germans rushed to queue up for last-chance Christmas shopping.
“I hope that the shopping on Monday and Tuesday will not penalise us,” said Angela Merkel at a meeting with her conservative parliamentary group.
“The curve (of infections) is very bad,” she said.
“The vaccine will help us”, but the evolution of the pandemic remains unpredictable, she added.
Her government has pressured the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine ahead of Christmas.
Health authorities said that vaccinations could begin on Dec 27, starting with residents in elderly care homes.
“We will be able to return gradually to normal from the summer onwards,” Health Minister Jens Spahn told broadcaster RTL.
But the chairman of the World Medical Association, German doctor Frank Ulrich Montgomery, expected containment measures to continue at least until Easter.
“Even if vaccinations start earlier than expected, the effect will only be gradual,” he told the Funke media group. — NNN-AGENCIES
