The German government and state governors decided Tuesday to extend and further tighten epidemic control until Jan. 31 and continue to distribute financial aid as the new crown infection continues to be severe, according to German TV One. Schools and kindergartens continue to be closed. People are further restricted in their interactions and movements. A family is now allowed to meet only one person from another family. Previously two families with a total of five people were allowed to meet together. In areas where the outbreak is severe, people are only allowed to go out and move within a 15-kilometer radius.
According to Chancellor Merkel’s explanation, the main reason for limiting the range of movement of people in areas with severe outbreaks is to reduce the number of people traveling outside the home, as this would lead to a large number of people gathering together.
Reactions to the further tightening of epidemic prevention measures have been mixed. Berlin Mayor Muller believes that further restrictions are burdensome, but necessary.
The German Doctors’ Association welcomed the new precautionary measures, as hospitals and their intensive care beds are already overloaded. More than 22,000 intensive care beds are currently in use, representing more than 80 percent of the total capacity.
For its part, the German Regional Assembly believes that the new decision offers no prospect of getting out of control. Germany lacks a long-term strategy.
The FDP, for its part, strongly criticized the new measures, saying that there is no clear legal basis for restricting people’s freedom of movement.
The Neue Osnabrückische Zeitung did not think much of the new preventive measures. The newspaper argues: Germany has already been torturing itself for many weeks through controls. Many people are feeling nervous. Due to the Christmas holidays, the current data on infection rates have little illustrative power. They are therefore not suitable as a reason to loosen controls as soon as possible, but also not as a reason to further restrict the freedom of intercourse and movement. The new measures are activist in nature and not well thought out.
According to data published by the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, some 367,000 people had received their first vaccination in Germany by midday on Wednesday. This is an increase of 45,000 people compared to the previous day. According to the figures, 4.4 people out of 1,000 inhabitants have now been vaccinated.
However, the infection level in Germany remains high. More than 21,000 infections were confirmed on a single day, for a total of 1,808,647 infections. The number of deaths in a single day is also as high as 1019, for a total of 36,537.
German health Minister Spann called for patience. Although there is not yet enough vaccine available, everyone should be able to be vaccinated by the summer.
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