Germany set for stricter lockdown from Wednesday
Aviation News Desk:
Germany is set to introduce a hard national lockdown on Wednesday, according to reports, as the country struggles to quell an exponential rise in coronavirus cases.
Reuters and DPA news agencies on Sunday cited a draft government proposal describing the plans for stricter curbs.
Germany is set to close most shops from Wednesday as it tightens lockdown curbs, according to a draft government proposal. Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet with federal and state leaders on Sunday morning.
Under the plan, most stores will be ordered to close from December 16 to January 10 and that schools and day care centers would also be shut.
The decision will be a bitter blow to the nation’s retailers, coming just nine days before Christmas, at the most profitable time of the year.
Companies will to be asked to be flexible with those parents who lack childcare cover due to closure of education centers, the proposal says.
For the Christmas holidays, from December 24 to 26, the draft paper calls for meetings of a maximum of 5 adults plus children aged up to 14, but no more than two households.
Crisis talks set to confirm lockdown
State and federal leaders are meeting for crisis talks on Sunday morning to formally decide which course of action to take.
Ahead of the video conference, DW’s Political correspondent Hans Brandt said Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to have convinced those regional leaders who earlier rejected harsher curbs.
“There have a lot of acrimonious exchanges in these meetings, they have often taken hours, as they have often had great difficulty agreeing on what measures should be taken. While Angela Merkel feels that the restrictions should be a lot more stringent, many regional leaders have, in recent months … pushed for a more relaxed attitude. That has clearly not worked.”
