GERMANY TO IMPOSE SWEEPING CURBS FOR UNVACCINATED

Thu 02 December 2021:

As concerns mount about the Omicron form, Germany’s caretaker government will impose harsh restrictions on unvaccinated citizens in an attempt to rein in growing Covid-19 infections and relieve significant burden on hospitals.

Germany’s regional premiers agreed with outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday to impose strict limitations on persons who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. Merkel had asked the chiefs of Germany’s 16 federal states to vote on additional nationwide restrictions on Thursday; state leaders had mainly been able to decide their own Covid measures during the outbreak.

Speaking after a meeting with federal and state leaders, Merkel the measures were necessary in light of concerns that hospitals in Germany could become overloaded with people suffering COVID-19 infections, which are more likely to be serious in those who haven’t been vaccinated.

“The situation is our country is serious,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin, calling the measure an “act of national solidarity.”

Unvaccinated people will be banned from restaurants, theaters, and non-essential stores under new rules. In areas where infections are prevalent, nightclubs will be closed, and the number of attendees at large-scale events will be reduced.

Mandatory vaccination could begin in February, according to the chancellor. She went on to say that such a proposal would require Bundestag approval as well as an appropriate legal framework.

In the face of rising case numbers, Germany has relaunched its vaccine campaign. However, just 68 percent of the population is totally immune to the virus, which is lower than the Western European average.

On Wednesday, Germany recorded 73,209 new Covid-19 infections and 388 deaths, according to the Robert Koch Institute of Infectious Diseases.

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