German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany’s state premiers have announced a new ‚light’ lockdown that is to start on Monday November 2nd.
The restrictions come amid a dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases throughout Europe. Yesterday France went even further, announcing a return to full lockdown would happen on Saturday.
According to Deutsche Welle’s English news service, the lockdown rules are as follows:
What is restricted or banned
- Restaurants and bars must close, but take-away is permitted
- Large public events are to be canceled
- Unnecessary travel is strongly discouraged
- Overnight stays in hotels for leisure purposes is banned
- Those who can work from home should do so
- Meetings in public will be restricted to just two households of up to 10 people
- Theaters, cinemas and other entertainment venues must close
- Public recreation centers such as swimming pools, gyms and saunas must also close
- No crowds are permitted at sports events
What is allowed
- Schools and kindergartens will remain open
- Church services and protests will be allowed to continue due to constitutional concerns
- Nursing home residents will be allowed to receive visitors
- Shops will remain open, with one customer allowed per 10 square meters (108 square feet)
- Borders will remain open
Crucially, as you can see in the list above, borders shall remain open. However, regional restrictions also apply due to Germany’s federal system. A case in point are the weekly Covid-19 tests required by the authorities in Bavaria, which we reported on Monday.