The Robert Koch Institute president has called for a new lockdown of two to four weeks to end a third Covid-19 wave in Germany, as Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly plans to impose restrictions on the worst-hit regions.
“Every day in which we don’t act, we lose lives,” said Prof. Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute – a German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention – during a weekly news conference.
It’s been reported that Merkel plans to take control from federal states to impose restrictions on regions with high numbers of new coronavirus infections. Germany has a federal system, which means each of its 16 states makes its own Covid-19 rules. “The federal government plans to introduce draft legislation next week, in close coordination with the states, that includes a binding and comprehensive emergency break for districts with an incidence of 100 and up,” Reuters reported, citing a source in the government. Merkel is due to meet state leaders on April 12 to revise coronavirus rules.
This follows Merkel’s comments earlier this week in favor of a short and sharp lockdown across the country to ease the growing pressure on the nation’s health system.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said Merkel favored “a short, national lockdown,” adding that “every call for a short, uniform lockdown is right.”
Germany has been in some form of lockdown since November but is struggling to curb a recent spike in cases linked to the so-called British variant. The Robert Koch Institute says the number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased to almost 25,500 in one day on Thursday, which was around 3,000 more than the week before, adding however that the figures may be affected by the long Easter holiday weekend.
Germany plans to hold bilateral talks with Russia over possible deliveries of its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine if the jab is approved by the European Union. Health Minister Jens Spahn said Berlin would discuss with Moscow when and what quantities of the vaccine could be delivered.
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