Germany to continue with nationwide shutdown as coronavirus cases spike

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Germany shows no sign of easing the preventive measures it already has in place. According to reports, Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff Helge Braun said that the government was not discussing relaxing restrictions before April 20. Merkel’s Chief of Staff did add that there will be a meeting held by the administration before that where they will decide if restrictions are to be lifted April 20 onwards.

Restrictions to continue

As per reports, Merkel claimed that Germany was witnessing a doubling of coronavirus cases every 5 days but that number needs to go down to every 10 days if loosening of restrictive measures is even supposed to be an option. Merkel on March 27 announced that the partial lockdown and the restrictive emergency measures placed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus would remain in place. 

Read: German Chancellor Says Lockdown, Restrictive Measures To Continue To Curb COVID-19 Spread

Read: Germany Reports 6,294 New Coronavirus Cases Within 24 Hours, Total Toll At 53,340

As per reports, Angela Merkel said that the most effective way to defeat the coronavirus is through people’s own behaviour. These nationwide measures are scheduled to remain in place for two weeks. The measures will be imposed by individual states that have the power to decide when to roll them out. The number of coronavirus cases in Germany has risen by 15 per cent in the last 24 hours after 6,294 new cases were reported according to Robert Koch Institute, which is the country’s infectious disease and control centre, that gave the official numbers. Germany now has a total of 53,340 confirmed coronavirus cases and 395 deaths, as per reports.

Taking into account Germany’s economic situation, Merkel said that she understands the anxiety people have about Germany’s economic situation and that no one can say with certainty how long this difficult time is going to last. Meanwhile, citizens and businesses in Germany that have been left in dire straits by the coronavirus crisis will soon get help from the state, after the upper house of parliament approved an unprecedented aid package, as per reports.

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