Berlin: Keeping the rising cases of coronavirus in mind, Germany on Tuesday extended its lockdown till April 18 and urged the citizens to stay at home for five days over the Easter holidays to try to break a third wave of the pandemic. Notably, the coronavirus lockdown extension will continue till April 18. The decision was taken after an overnight meeting with the heads of Germany’s 16 states.
According to news agency Reuters, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Urged the citizens to stay at home during the festive season.
Moreover, the German Chancellor pushed the leaders of Germany’s 16 states to take a tougher stance to fight the pandemic, reversing plans for a gradual re-opening of the economy agreed earlier this month after a sharp rise in infection rate.
Just three weeks ago, the German government was making plans to reopening economic activities that relied on a steady decline in case rates. With 57 per cent increase in daily new cases in two weeks, it is clear that Germany is headed into another coronavirus wave.
According to a New York Times database, the number of cases in Germany has more than doubled to about 13,000 per day from 6,000 in mid-February. More the country has been reopening as the more infectious variant B.1.1.7 spreads rapidly, making up nearly three quarters of new cases.
On Monday, the coronavirus rate in Germany went up to 107,3 new cases per 100.000 inhabitants which is above the crucial limit of 100, beyond which, it was earlier agreed to impose “emergency brake”.