Germany's Merkel urges people to reduce travel, partying amid second COVID-19 wave

As COVID-19 infections in Germany witness a sudden surge with the Kaiserslautern area turning to a hotspot, an aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel said that with hard months to come and a stricter clampdown, people will have to stop the travel and partying, where infection chains spread mostly. Chancellor's chief of staff, Helge Braun, told public broadcaster ARD that the country had plans to cap the total number of people allowed in public premises, much like England, unfortunately, imposing sweeping measures to curb transmission rate as country battles the second wave.

Only the politicians' and the population's determination will decide whether or not we can avoid it, or slow it down, Braun said on air in an interview with Germany's public-service broadcaster ARD. He added, further, that Germany was now at the beginning of a second wave and the fresh outbreak spiked to over 4,000 cases last week, the highest tallied 'single-day jump' since April. Sunday's count was below that but that is because test reports tend to be lower at weekends, Braun informed.

According to the sources of the local broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Germany’s western city of Essen exceeded far beyond the nation’s key coronavirus threshold, with Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart reporting daily alarming spikes in infections that prompted authorities to tighten measures. City of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) on October 11 recorded 57.3 infections per 100,000 population, as the NRW health authorities expressed concern over the soaring trajectory. 

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Assembly limited to 25

In the city of Essen, the public assembly was limited to 25, from the earlier 50, mandating the face-masks at all times in public buildings. Whereas, Berlin and Cologne imposed a nightly curfew. Germany's energy capital, a hub to electric utility companies E.ON and RWE, constitutes a 600,000 population, and fears of outbreaks in the city have now elevated concerns. As per Robert Koch Institute (RKI)’s tally, as of October 11, Germany recorded 3,483 new coronavirus cases and 11 new fatalities, adding to a total of 322,864 cases and 9,615 deaths since the pandemic hit. On October 10, German federal and state leaders spent more than five hours in talks on how to tighten coronavirus measures in the face of soaring transmission rates.

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