Berlin, Dec. 22 (BNA): Germany will next week impose restrictions on private gatherings, closed clubs on New Year’s Eve and close major sporting events to spectators, to slow the spread of Omicron, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz said.
The coronavirus measures were agreed at a meeting of state and federal governments on Tuesday and will take effect nationwide no later than December 28, meaning many, but not all, Germans will be exempted over the Christmas holidays, German news agency reports (dpa).
The plan limits the number of people who can attend private gatherings at age 10 — excluding children up to age 14 — and applies even to those who have been vaccinated or recovered.
Schulz said Germany is facing a massive fifth wave of Covid-19 cases due to the new alternative. “It is not going to end as quickly as we had hoped,” he said of the pandemic.
“I wish I had given you more positive news shortly before the Christmas holidays,” he told reporters in Berlin after the meeting via video link.
“This pandemic bothers us all. We are all fragile and tired. But it doesn’t help. We have to stand together again, and in many cases, keep our distance.”
Schulz emphasized that “vaccinating, vaccinating and vaccinating remains our goal,” saying he wants to protect 80 per cent of the population from Covid-19 in the near future.
The vaccination rate in Germany is lagging behind that of some other Western European countries. As of Tuesday, 70.4 percent of the population had received the required vaccine regimen.
Schulz said Germany aims to deliver an additional 30 million booster hits by the end of January, describing the additional doses as necessary to mitigate the Omicron effect. About 27 million people in Germany received a booster dose.
Schulz explained that the risk of unvaccinated adults becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 has increased with the new virus variant.
“So my plea: Get vaccinated to protect you, your loved ones, and to protect us all!” He said.
The focus of the meeting between Germany’s 16 state prime ministers and Schulz was how best to reduce social contacts for the entire population, including those who had been twice vaccinated and who had recovered from Covid-19 – two groups largely spared from fourth-wave restrictions.
The meeting was held largely in haste in response to an urgent call by the federal government’s Novel Coronavirus Expert Council. According to the council, the rapid spread of the Omicron variant threatens a “new dimension” of the pandemic.
German states can start implementing the restrictions before December 28, if they wish. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the Northeast said it would submit an application from December 24, a decision prompted by the dwindling number of intensive care beds available there.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the government wants to flatten the curve of cases – and nothing has been taken off the table, including the lockdown.
“What we have decided today will have an impact. But we are not ruling out anything. So if the number of cases is actually developed in a way that also requires discussion of the hard lock problem, there will be no red lines. We are not there at the moment,” Lauterbach told German public broadcaster ARD. .
German sport has responded with a resignation to the government’s decision to ban fans from stadiums at major tournaments and major events.
Bundesliga clubs such as Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig have already been playing behind closed doors for weeks due to a spike in coronavirus cases, while a raft of restrictions have been imposed on fans across Germany.
The German Football Association said: “The temporary restrictions imposed by the federal and state governments on spectators at major events are regrettable but understandable – even if until recently we all hoped that there would be no nationwide return of matches without fans in stadiums.” DFL), which runs the German Bundesliga.
“The German Football Association makes a renewed and urgent appeal: get vaccinated or get a booster ASAP!”
New Year’s Eve will be quiet in Germany. Even before Tuesday’s conference, the sale of fireworks was banned for the second year in a row. Now, as the calendar turns to 2022, big house parties will be banned and clubs and discos will remain silent.
FKN