Denmark and Germany impose tough new Christmas lockdowns to curb soaring coronavirus cases
A woman walks past a closed store in central Frankfurt, Germany, on 16 December, 2020. Source: AP / AAP
Denmark will impose a hard lockdown over Christmas and the New Year to limit the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced.
Shopping centres will close starting on Thursday and other stores, with the exception of supermarkets and food shops, will close from 25 December.
Students still in school will be sent home as of Monday.
“Our healthcare system is under pressure,” Ms Frederiksen said. “We have to act now.”
Danish authorities expect the coming months to be the worst of the pandemic, she said.
Denmark reported a record 3692 new coronavirus infections during the past 24 hours on Wednesday.
A record of 54 people have been hospitalised with COVID-19 in Denmark in the last 24 hours, bringing to 493 the number of people currently in hospital, a number authorities fear could rise further in the coming days, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said.
It comes as Germany entered a strict lockdown on Wednesday in an effort to get soaring coronavirus cases under control as the number of registered deaths from COVID-19 jumped by 952, the highest daily increase yet.
Fears that the pandemic is spiralling out of control in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, prompted Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 state governors to announce on Sunday a tough lockdown until 10 January at the earliest.
Shops and schools will stay shut from Wednesday in a pre-Christmas tightening of restrictions following a partial lockdown in November, which closed bars and restaurants but failed to contain a second wave of the pandemic.
Germany was more successful than many European countries in keeping the new coronavirus under control in the first wave in the spring. But the situation looks very different now.
The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases put the number of confirmed coronavirus cases at 1,379,238 – an increase of 27,728. The total death toll in Germany is at 23,427.
The previous highest daily increase in deaths was 598 on Friday.
Ms Merkel told lawmakers on Tuesday she was worried by the coronavirus trend and warned them that January and February would be very tough months.
Germans are waiting for regulatory approval for a vaccine partly developed in Germany even as other countries, including Britain and the United States, are rolling it out.
Health Minister Jens Spahn has said Germany should start giving coronavirus shots 24 to 72 hours after the vaccine by BioNTech and Pfizer gets EU approval and could begin as soon as Christmas.
European authorities are expected to approve the vaccine next week.
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SOURCE REUTERS – SBS
