Germany extends lockdown to break third wave of COVID

Germany extended lockdown until April 18 and calling on citizens to stay at home for five days over the Easter holidays to try to break a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday in a news conference that the country is now basically in a new pandemic. Merkel and Germany’s 16 state premiers agreed a tougher lockdown for the Easter holidays between April 1 and 5. “We are now in a very serious situation,” Merkel  adding that Germany was in a race against time to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus.

The British mutation has become dominant with very different characteristics, more deadly and more infectious. Germany started cautiously easing restrictions earlier this month but the spread of more infectious variants of the virus has pushed up cases, prompting concerns that hospitals could soon be overstretched without further curbs. The number of cases per 100,000 people over a week stood at 107 on Monday, above the level at which intensive care units will be overwhelmed.

Under the Easter restrictions, almost all shops will be shut during the five-day period and religious services will be moved online. Grocers will be the only shops allowed to open on Saturday, April 3. Easter falls on April 4. Germany started cautiously easing restrictions earlier this month, amid growing weariness over the continued curbs and protests among some people.